


Porcelain Parasite (Saiouma)

by ySoda (yrxole)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Non-Despair (Dangan Ronpa), Alternate Universe - Royalty, Alternative Universe - Kingdom, Background Character Death, Background Relationships, Blood and Gore, Complete, Dangan Ronpa Spoilers, Demons, Dolls, Enoshima Junko Being An Asshole, Enoshima is the witch, Eventual Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Explicit Language, Fairy Tale Curses, Fairy Tale Elements, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Hinata Hajime and Kamukura Izuru Share a Body Simultaneously, How Do I Tag, Implied Sexual Content, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Torture, M/M, Minor Kamukura Izuru/Komaeda Nagito, Oma Kokichi Being Oma Kokichi, Oma Kokichi Is a Little Shit, Oma is a prince basically, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Ouma not Oma, Pain, Panic Attacks, Rated M for some of the commentary and there might be violence, War, Warning: Enoshima Junko, Warnings May Change, Witch Curses, Witchcraft, kamukura izuru is a demon, no actual smut though, oumasai, royal au, saiouma, you can kind of guess where this is going
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-13
Updated: 2021-02-06
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:35:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 25
Words: 172,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24700933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yrxole/pseuds/ySoda
Summary: "They needed a baby. The queen was nearing her forty fifth year, and she wasn’t getting any younger as the time flew by.So, the king and queen made the decision to call upon the help of Junko Enoshima, a remarkable but entrancing younger lady that lived right outside of the kingdom’s walls. She was a very well known woman for practicing witchcraft, a craft that wasn’t allowed in most cities and kingdoms because of the danger that it caused, yet Lady Ouma didn’t think they had any other options".Kind of a fairytale au; there is a kingdom, Kokichi will be the heir to the throne, but things might just not work out the way his parents want them to work out.
Relationships: (More relationships to be added) - Relationship, Akamatsu Kaede/Harukawa Maki (eventually), Hinata Hajime/Komaeda Nagito, Iruma Miu/K1-B0, Oma Kokichi/Saihara Shuichi, Soda Kazuichi/Tanaka Gundham
Comments: 338
Kudos: 589





	1. (Intro to the Story)

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:
> 
> So I had an idea for a longer fiction I guess.  
> I'm not sure how frequently I'll update but I'll try to keep myself motivated to write more. I have the story written down in like the plot basically but I still have to make some changes and stuff to make it a bit more exciting to read if that makes sense?  
> Anyway, I hope you'll like reading this anyway. The chapters may be a little short and it might take long for updates, I'm very sorry already if this is the case.  
> I might have to edit the tags or maybe even the maturity rate depending on where I want to take this one. 
> 
> Warning: swearing, more may be added. 
> 
> -I write ouma with the 'u' because I got used to that  
> -Shuichi isn't a big part of the story y e t but in the next chapter he will be so don't worry '
> 
> Constructive criticism is welcome, but please don't be too harsh on me :)

_ Once upon a time, not that long ago actually, there lived a wealthy King and Queen in the kingdom that nowadays doesn’t go by any name anymore, but back then, people called it the “Lavender Kingdom” to honor its prettiest flowers that were found across most of the beautiful countryside. Purple petals of nice smelling plants were the image that was entrusted to the Queen’s family, one that had lived through a lot and was sure to live through a lot further in their bloodline. A scent of peace and a scent of calmth, where citizens were as happy as they could be when their work payed the bills just right and the rules weren’t as strict as in other places that most of the human kind immediately began to despise. Lavender Kingdom was a paragon of what things should have been like all across the globe for as far as everyone outside of the Ouma palace was concerned.  _

‘Wake up’.

_ The Queen, a healthy and mature woman, was adored and praised by all. The kingdom owed their lives to her, so to speak, as she always managed to make the wisest decisions she could and was indeed the image of perfection to most that pictured her. Usually dressed up in the most beautiful of robes and dresses made of the finest materials, dolled up to compliment the stars when they smiled down at her, she was a well respected and strong woman. The world smiled at her in her every mood, even when the weather was bad and this would mean that harvesting would get harder on the farmers and that her people would have to stay indoors more, or when an enemy seemed to near and those that were able to stand on both feet and wield a weapon were send out to battle just to preserve the peace that was still in the kingdom, and she would smile right back with cared for and clean white teeth that showed off her innocence to the universe she seemed to oh so adore. The kingdom simply bowed at her feet, and she ruled her with every care she could muster. _

_ Her significant other was more… grey, so to say. He was an older man, and although he had been a great and wise ruler for the biggest part of his life, his spotlight was getting a little bit duller now. Not as open was the king, not as his wife was. No, when Mrs. Ouma would attend every feast she could to please her people and to show her care, when she would gather all her men to once again make the palace presentable for actual citizens to come and pay a visit if they needed anything, and when she would just take a moment to take a stroll through the beautiful country over paths and hills and admire the flowers that she could thank the pretty name of her kingdom for, the king would stay indoors. He was more of a preserved man. Once life had laughed at him the way it cheered his dear wife on, but now the grey man couldn’t find it in himself to be as cheerful as his beautiful other half. He wasn’t as well known as his wife anymore due to the fact that he stayed hidden in the safe comfort of the palace walls that had endured many more years than the couple had. Therefore the man wasn’t as idealized either, not like Mrs. Ouma was anyway, and some even tended to forget about his existence. Nevertheless, the people would just assume that he lived a happy, rich and basically carefree life in comfort of his king’s title.  _

‘Please, try to open your eyes’. 

_ Although a part of the castle had always been open to citizens of the Lavender Kingdom that needed to speak to the higher ups about important matters, no one was actually really sure what went on inside of the royal house itself. They couldn’t know all the details from the king and queen’s private life, obviously, and at first that had been no problem, although it seemed to make them as separate from the royal family as they could be.  _

_ The thing was, Lady Ouma was soon to turn forty, and yet she had not brought any children forth. By now a little heir or heiress should have been long born and growing up among the royals, yet this has not been the case and people started to worry. At first everyone just supposed that the wealthy woman took things slow and only wanted to start a family once she was definitely ready for it, but since she reached the age of thirty the people were convinced that this was far from the truth. The rumors and speculations only started five years later when still there was no sign of any children residing in the castle, speculations that went a bit to far on theories about the love life of the king and queen for their comfort. Most of these suspicious stories were far from the truth and the king and queen tried very hard to at least proof that the rumors were false, yet the people of their kingdom started to listen less and less to their words and promises as time flew by and still there was no heir to the throne.  _

_ Contradictory to all the statements that the theorists among their folk made, the king and queen actually  _ did _ love each other, and their bond together was tight as it ever had been. They were far different from each other, sure, where Lady Ouma was more outgoing and lord Ouma was more an introverted kind of man, but opposites do attract, it seemed. The both of them did try to get a child, of course, but it just seemed not to be working in their favor on this particular subject. Whatever they tried, the woman wouldn’t get pregnant. Since the king really wasn’t one to want to take care of a dosen tiny versions of himself in the big house that they had claimed as their own, he wasn’t all too worried about these happenings and cherished the moments he had alone with his wife. His beloved queen on the other hand was restless. She fully understood that these speculations, rumors, and theories were not good either on their reputation, or for their family in general. But it weren’t just the rumors that were harmful, no. The act of not bringing children of her own to this world would be the end of her, she knew this.  _

‘Please, I just need you to wake up and open your eyes. Can you look at me?’. 

_ They needed a baby. The queen was nearing her forty fifth year, and she wasn’t getting any younger as the time flew by. Besides, an unforgivable curse for the fact that no children were given birth to yet wasn’t what the family anticipated on having. It happened many years ago, and the whole kingdom had to pay for this fact, which was something that the honest and caring queen would not be able to bear if it were to be her fault. The kingdom she had cared for so long, worked for so long and suffered for for so long, she wouldn’t be able to give it up that easily. Luckily her husband was easily persuaded by her, and her ideas about this fact, so she still managed to give it her all. Little did she know, certain decisions they made in the haze of nerves, rush of the moment and terror of what could happen to them if nothing were to change, would turn out way worse than the shame she would have to carry had she not done anything.  _

‘Kokichi? I don’t think it’s working…’, Lady Ouma mumbled as she gently brushed the soft skin (or at least skin that was supposed to be soft by now) of the small being that was lying in the crib that had been designed especially for this occasion. 

_ So, the king and queen made the decision to call upon the help of Junko Enoshima, a remarkable but entrancing younger lady that lived right outside of the kingdom’s walls. She was a very well known woman for practicing witchcraft, a craft that wasn’t allowed in most cities and kingdoms because of the danger that it caused, yet Lady Ouma didn’t think they had another option at hand. With permission the pink haired lady would enter their hometown, probably causing most of the citizens to stay inside with the windows closed and doors locked for as long as they could sense her presence, and the royal family would be waiting for her at the gates.  _

‘Ah, don’t be ridiculous! It’ll work, just be a little patient! I haven’t even cast my last spell yet, geez lady!’, Enoshima rolled her heavily accentuated eyes, as she carefully pushed the smaller woman to the side before standing in front of her creation and stretching out the fingers of her hands, dolled up with several rings and red nails that almost represented claws as she held them on the lifeless boy’s cheeks. 

_ Seven days and seven hours exactly it took the woman to arrive at the palace gates. Almost as a sign this whole week it had been storming inside of the kingdom, the great amounts of rain ruining the lands and the houses of those that were less fortunate. The sky had been awfully grey and the atmosphere definitely wasn’t one to smile from, yet the Queen didn’t stop showing her pretty teeth with bright grins as she remembered the coming of the woman that would help them with their problem. As the witch knocked on the door, and a servant opened up for her, almost as to set the mood thunder broke loose and the storm didn’t seem to calm down at all. Clad in old and torn robes, hiding her pink hair somewhat, the water seemed to have soaked through her completely, but she didn’t seem even the littlest bit phased. She was holding a candle that lit the way for her, and strangely enough it hadn’t been put out by the water or wind outside, which probably served as some sort of credibility factor of her skills.  _

_ Although the servants of the place immediately felt off, the king and queen decided to let her in anyway, and to show the same amount of hospitality they would show anyone else. Their gut feelings were ignored as she stepped through the long halls and was shown to the room that would become the new boy’s that she promised to bring them. Despite every sign that told them to stop this madness and just get what was coming for them, both the royals decided that this was perhaps still worth it, and so the ritual began.  _

‘Skin like porcelain’, Junko muttered as her skilled hands rubbed a strange type of ointment over the cheeks of the still creature, with a small smirk at her work. Lights flickered, and the queen took a startled step back as she grabbed the arm of her husband that tried to calm her down a bit. ‘Face like an angel’, the witch continued, her voice getting a little more shrill. The lights flickered off, but the candles she had brought turned on at once. One of the servants that noticed this happening fell backwards as she fainted. Still, the boy was nothing more than an wax effigy, uncolored and lifeless. 

‘Powerful yet cruel is he designed to rule, yet do not forget. For every stone there is a bit of skin, and for every flower there is a part of him’, Enoshima finished in a whisper, sinking her nails into the skin. Both the king and queen were sure that the long nails would break once they made contact with the hard surface, but instead of this happening, it seemed to sink into what now was turned to flesh. 

_ Beating hearts was all it would take, so beating hearts is what they got her. Confused by the words that Junko Enoshima spoke, they made the deal hastily and with almost no second thought. The beauty of a kingdom for the beauty of their newborn son, is what she said, however, the king was sure he might have mistaken the words as soon as they were spoken.  _

Eyes fluttered open, bright purple irises staring back in the normal colored eyes of the two royals in the room. 

* * *

17 years later

* * *

‘Good morning, my lord’, the deep voice that belonged to the servant that went by the name of Rantaro Amami sounded, as delicately the soft curtains that shielded Kokichi’s eyes from what was going on outside of the castle at this early our were opened, letting a bright light come through. Soft purple hair was sprawled over his pillow, and his bright eyes met those of perhaps one of his favorite servants, as he scowled at him. 

‘Get out of my room, pervert. It’s way too early for your bullshit’, the young prince complained, his arm shielding himself from the bright sunlight that was attacking his vision and making him see dark spots. White and clean fabric rubbed over his skin, making an annoying noise as the delicate fabric ruffled when he moved under his covers, and the boy groaned softly. 

‘My apologies, Prince Ouma. However, your parents are expecting you’, the green haired male excused himself, as he made his way to the door, before the purple haired prince stopped him as he shot up excitedly, showing nothing of the sleepiness he had faked before. ‘Oohh! Well, in that case, can you bring some tea to my room?’, He asked as he clapped in his hands and grinned at the male. 

‘If it is alright for me to take notice of this, you don’t like tea’, Amami told him with a soft smile. The servants had kind of gotten used to the behaviour of the young prince by now, and it was nothing new really, so they had grown to accept this. ‘Three sugars, pretty please!’, Kokichi chirped with an innocent gaze as he grabbed a hold of one of his pillows and squished the soft object with his slender fingers, before leaning backwards against the headboard of his king sized bed and flinging the pillow at the head of his servant, that unfortunately managed to dodge the thing as he left the room with a soft sigh. Kokichi frowned, his arms folding over his chest as he let himself slump back into the comfort of his bed. 

Mornings were usually very boring to the young male. At first it was kind of funny to mess with the staff that worked at the palace, but it soon started to become less of a fun activity and more of a must when the servants and maids started to get used to his behaviour. They wouldn’t seem embarrassed whenever he made a strange comment, and they wouldn’t be mad when he made life difficult for them either. At first the trickster took it upon himself to try and break every single one of the servants to make them resent him and act in a way that someone in their role should not be acting, but now that seemed almost impossible. 

The boy flinched as there was a knock at the wood of his door, making him glare at where the sound was coming from. ‘Come in!’, he just called, since he couldn’t help but to be a little curious anyway, although he was pretty sure he knew who was coming in this early in the morning to dress him. His suspicions were correct as the neat and collected lady opened the door and carefully stepped into the room as she bowed to him, making the prince roll his eyes. Her grey, almost silver hair was put up neatly and her face would always stay the one of a mature and polite maid, something that managed to anger the purple haired male quite a bit. It was very hard to disrupt her mature aura, that is. ‘What do you want Kirumi?’, Kokichi asked, deciding that he wasn’t going to subtly tell her to back off. 

‘I am here to dress you, prince Ouma, as is my duty every day’, Kirumi Tojo repeated the sentence that she basically used every single day. With a hand gesture he waved her off, and watched the woman move to the big closet that was in his room as she searched through the different types of outfits the young male had. As per usual Kokichi made it a point to scold at every single thing she held in front of him, making sure to throw in enough insults. Her face didn’t falter even one bit as she just continued her duty, annoying the trickster even more, if that was even possible. 

‘Let’s just go with the first thing you showed me, the rest kept getting worse and worse, like you’, the purple haired prince snarled at her as she again had to clean up the room from the articles of clothing that the prince had tossed somewhere in the room as soon as she had shown him the options he had. The maid wasn’t phased even the slightest, and moved over to the male, helping him out of his sleepwear and dressing him up after. 

The male eyed himself in the large mirror that was in his room, noting the soft white buttoned shirt that was given to him, with a dark purple colored frock coat that wrapped around his frame neatly and left enough space at the lowest part for him to feel comfortable, longer in the back. The pants he was wearing were cut by the knees and underneath he wore garters that kept the socks his mother loved for him to wear since it made him look elegant up, in the same color as a small vest that was pulled over the long sleeved shirt, accentuated and finished with silver details in the fabric. The shoes were nicely polished and darker than the rest of the outfit, but he decided he liked the way they easily stoot out. His hair seemed brighter because of the combination of darker colors, and so did his eyes. Kirumi even payed mind to the fact that he loved the checkered tie he had actually found when he went to a market without telling his parents, the day that everyone in the royal house freaked out because Kokichi was suddenly gone. If he had to be honest, it was a perfect fit. 

‘Yeah, looks horrible, but I got no time to change now’, Ouma grumbled at his maid, who smiled a little bit at him with an apologetic look, although she knew that the boy was lying to her. 

As the woman brushed the prince’s hair with care, although it was hard to do anything about the crazy way it usually bounced up by now, Amami entered the bedroom again, carrying a plate with the beverage Kokichi had asked for. With a wide grin Kokichi hopped up from where he was sitting, knocking the brush Kirumi was holding over in the process as he rushed to the door that Rantaro was holding open where he stood. ‘Ah, thank you Ranran!’, he said cheerfully, before with the swift motion of his left fist knocking the cup of tea that he had made off the plate. It landed in broken pieces on the floor, and seemingly the action had startled both of the servants in the room a bit. Liquid seeped into the expensive carpet. The purple haired prince smirked and placed a finger over his lips. ‘Oopsies! Better clean that up, clumsy!’, he told the baffled green haired male happily, before skipping out of the room. 

Most of the maids and servants or other parts of the staff avoided Kokichi Ouma like the plague when he was roaming around the castle. Of course Kirumi and Rantaro could hardly avoid him when they were specifically assigned to wake him up and such, and they couldn’t exactly defy any orders from him, even if they would want to. The little trickster was known for his strange acts, simply coming forth out the feeling of boredom he wanted to fight, and therefore not very popular among the royal family. Where the king and queen would be honest and loyal, he was sneaky and not just a little bit of a liar. 

Knowing and not really caring that his parents were waiting for him, the purple haired prince took his time as he took a stroll through the different halls, smiling at memories of drawing on the expensive paintings of what he supposed were his ancestors. That day his father had really gotten mad at him, and it was honestly kind of exciting to see a reaction like that from the normally calm man. Vandalizing stuff was apparently not very prince-like. 

Eventually Kokichi arrived at the dining room where he knew the dear old king and queen would be waiting for him. Deciding to make a grand entrance as per usual he pushed open the doors harshly so they almost collapsed from the frame that was holding them in place, and struck a pose as he stood in the opening, watching the disappointed eyes of his father and the amused glance of his mother that were pointed towards him. It was an understatement to say that Kokichi was kind of a momma’s boy; even though he enjoyed making life insufferable for both of his parents and technically everyone that lived around him, he loved his mother a great lot, and he was sure that at least a bit of this affection was returned. 

‘Good morning sweetheart’, Lady Ouma said softly as she made a small bow towards the boy, that, although it was considered very inappropriate, didn’t bow back and instead took his usual seat at the table that was far too large for the family alone, but he decided he didn’t mind having much space for himself. ‘Morning mom. And dad’, he responded, giving the old man a sly smile as the king watched him carefully. He reached over to the plate that was in front of him, but stopped as he heard his father slam his fist on the table angrily, startling both his wife and son. ‘Mind your manners, Kokichi’, the man grumbled, the glare that he almost always had when looking at the purple haired prince was soon back on his face. ‘Yessir’, Kokichi nodded as he saluted the guy dramatically, before taking one of the silver spoons and poking in his food since he wasn’t allowed to eat it yet when not everything was finished and put on the table yet. Stupid rules. He would love to live somewhere where he could make all of his own rules, ones that preferably didn’t make much sense, simply to screw with as many people as possible. 

‘So… did anything particular happen, this morning?’, Mrs. Ouma spoke to break the sort of tension they had, the usual question. Now ignoring his father’s warning, Kokichi took a spoon full of the strange pudding that was in front of him and stuffed it in his mouth before speaking. ‘Hmm, well, Rantaro let my tea cup fall again, he’s seriously the worst’, the prince said about his favorite servant, making the woman sigh softly. ‘Sweetie, you can’t keep... disrupting the duties of our staff’, she tried to explain as calmly as she could, folding her hands together that were clad in soft satin gloves. In contrast to Kokichi’s purple locks the woman had black hair, that was starting to grey a bit from old age. The king’s hair had always been white, at least that Ouma could remember, so he wouldn’t know where exactly the purple was coming from, but he didn’t really care to ask either. If either of his parents wanted to cheat on each other with some purple haired bimbo, that was their business, and not his to be interested in even the slightest. 

‘Y-you mean.. you don’t believe me?’, Kokichi asked as he looked at his mother with wide eyes, opening the waterworks and letting thick tears roll down his cheeks. It obviously still made his father uncomfortable, but unfortunately, the queen was used to his antics. ‘We were just wondering what your aim is with these actions’, the mature woman continued speaking calmly as her son fakely wailed and stuffed more food into his mouth, claiming to be an emotional eater to the servants that were still coming in and out of the room to place different things on the dining table and to keep the royal family updated as well on the staff and on how things were going. 

‘Anyway, we’re getting a new servant as addition to our team. He is from another kingdom’, the king spoke up, making Kokichi stop his little dramatic show to listen to him, as he was suddenly interested in what the man had to say. It wasn’t very often that someone would want to serve a royal family of another kingdom than the one they lived in, so of course prince Ouma was a little bit surprised to hear this. ‘Oh? Do tell!’, he pressed them with a sweet smile as he disregarded the silver plate in front of him and instead had his whole focus on his parents for once. 

‘Yes, of course. his name is Shuichi Saihara, and he is part of a family that in his own kingdom isn’t well liked. We ask you, please don’t be too harsh on him. We understand you have certain… ways to greet new additions to our staff, but this young man has been through quite enough, we believe’, Lady Ouma told the purple haired male that was listening, giving him a careful look as she hoped that he would listen to her advice. She didn’t want her palace to seem like a place of horror simply because of its prince; most of the time Kokichi wasn’t even in the picture since the citizens would surely think he was possessed by a demon, and his parents weren’t really sure whether this was false or not. He surely was… a peculiar person, so to say. 

Resting his head in his hands as he shot his mother an innocent look, Kokichi batted his long lashes sweetly at her. ‘Hm? Me? Being too harsh on a new servant? Of course not, silly! I never meddle with the staff’s plans!’, the purple haired prince smiled gently, seeing the figure of the king slump back a bit in the chair he was sitting in. They didn’t believe him one bit of course, and were right not to. 


	2. On his Way to Lavender Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘W-wait, you can’t just decide for me to become a servant in a whole other kingdom’, the male sputtered as he put his hands out and shook them to accentuate the fact that he wasn’t okay with the rash decision his parents had made.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> A longer chapter, so yay? I actually wanted to make it even longer, but then I decided that I should just post this today, and continue the next chapter. In the next chapter Ko and Shuichi will actually meet, don't worry.   
> A bit of background story for Shuichi, I guess, and perhaps some foreshadowing (I honestly don't know yet, but it would be fun). 
> 
> Trigger warning: implied / referenced abuse (past), and some bad words from miu. 
> 
> Also, sorry, I ain't got time to reread so there might be more grammar mistakes than usual. It's late, I'm gonna go sleep, I hope you like the story so far.

‘Excuse me?’, Shuichi Saihara questioned with a raised brow as he braced himself against the kitchen counter that he was leaning on, not sure if he just heard what his parents said right. Only an hour earlier he was out in the local bar enjoying a simple drink with his neighbor and basically only friend in this town called Kiibo, talking over some suspicious events that went on in the city as per usual in a pretty good mood, so the news that his parents gave him definitely startled the male. 

‘Shuichi, you heard what your father said’, the slender woman that was his mother told him, waving him off as she reached past her son and tried to take a hold of the bottle she was searching for all along, although the body of the aspiring detective was basically in the way. Under any other circumstances she would have probably shoved the boy out of the way since it was her house after all, but now the situation was a little different. 

The strange thing was, Shuichi had already felt something peculiar set in his stomach and pull on his chest the closer he got to his home this day. It wasn’t necessarily an uncomfortable feeling, but it was foreign, as if things were about to change big time, and apparently that gut feeling had been correct. The evening he spent drinking beverages that held almost none to no alcohol since technically he was too young to drink, speaking with Kiibo and ignoring the nasty looks the other customers and visitors at the bar gave them both, it went exactly as planned. Just like every other Friday evening, that is. It was when both his neighbor and he could kind of celebrate having an evening off, and since neither of them was as close to the citizens in this town they lived in, they found comfort in each other. Kiibo was a good conversationalist, even if he was a bit of a smart ass, and sometimes Saihara was almost convinced that the boy was one of those modern machines with the way he could talk emotionlessly at times. But even the white haired male had noticed that things were a little strange, and neither of them could have put a finger on it. Although Kiibo thought the bluenette was going to be in danger, Shuichi didn’t exactly experience the aura that way. Still, something like this he hadn’t expected either. 

‘W-wait, you can’t just decide for me to become a servant in a whole other kingdom’, the male sputtered as he put his hands out and shook them to accentuate the fact that he wasn’t okay with the rash decision his parents had made. Still in a state of light shock, he leaned backwards against the kitchen counter. Their kitchen was quite a cramped space, just big enough for one or perhaps two people to fit in there, so it wasn’t that unpredictable that the glas that stood on the surface behind him would fall over and break into many pieces on the floor, shards flying through the room and almost hitting the boy in the proces. He flinched at the sound of glass shattering, and he could feel the incoming rage of his father that already despised him for being clumsy whenever he was anxious. 

‘See, and this is exactly the reason  _ we  _ have to make every sane decision for you’, his dad grumbled, getting more pissed off every second he was thinking about this, but fortunately for the bluenette his mother decided to pitch in and basically shift the subject back to where the mess started at first. ‘We don’t need you here, and it’s better if you make yourself useful in an important kingdom’, mrs. Saihara explained calmly as she took a swig of the bottle she was holding, retreating to the livingroom together with her husband as if the talk was over. Usually Shuichi would take this as a sign that his say in this was over, but now he was a little too fed up about this to listen to his logical mind that told him to back off and just take what was coming for him the best he could. 

‘No, wait, this isn’t right, you can’t do this’, Shuichi spoke, his voice quivering as he followed his parents into the living room. The air was tense, and he knew he probably spoke too much, but still he stood his ground as fists balled to his sides. Distinctly he could hear the clock tick to show that time was still flying by, even if it felt like everything stood still at the moment as he had to explain himself. ‘I… you need help at the farm right, you can’t do that all by yourself, mom. And dad, I help you in your shop as well, so I don’t understand why I need to leave’, Shuichi said softly to the both of his parents that listened impatiently. His mother snorted as she leant back against the excuse of a couch, with big gestures. ‘As if! You are no help, boy. All you do is write in that stupid notebook your old uncle gifted ya for your birthday, thinking that it would be good to become one of those despicable detectives one day. This village already hates you as much as they hate him’, she pointed out, raising a brow at him as her nose was tinted a light red from the amounts of alcohol that probably already were in her system. ‘And you always manage to fuck up everything when you get inside of my shop’, his father also snapped at him, earning a glare from his wife. ‘Saihara, language’, she told him, being responded to with a soft  _ sorry love.  _ Then she turned to Shuichi again, an annoyed expression on her wasted face. ‘You gotta show  _ someone  _ your worth instead of playing the detective all the time. It’s time to give up on those silly childhood dreams and grow up, kid. You’re almost an adult, and there’s probably no better job for you out there. You should thank us’. 

‘N-no’, Shuichi shook his head, head feeling a little light as he did so. When was the last time he ate anything at all? Certainly not that evening, he had left right before dinner since he didn’t feel like being among his family for any longer, even if technically his uncle had done nothing wrong. ‘No?’, his dad asked with a frown, making the boy gulp. Thing was, whenever mister Saihara got angry, he got really angry, and he could even get physical at times. Times like those were when Shuichi was at the point he would want to ask Kiibo if he could just move in with him and forget his parents existed, live a normal life with him and his girlfriend there and pretend to be raised in a normal family, but he couldn’t put that much pressure on the only person he considered a friend. 

‘No, as you said, I’m almost an adult. You don’t get to decide how I’ll be spending the rest of my life’, Shuichi pointed out as he wanted to try and seem as confident as he could in the statement, but his voice couldn’t help but to quiver a bit. Almost in a flash his father stood up, towering above the boy, and the bluenette immediately regretted even talking back to his parents for just a second. He should’ve anticipated this happening of course, but still high of the shock of what he was hearing he hadn’t thought too much about his actions. Usually he picked carefully what he said, but this time he was a little too startled to think straight. It’s not everyday that your parents tell you they basically sold you off to some other kingdom to serve the royal family for the rest of your life or at least until they decide they don’t want you there anymore. On guard, the male took a step back and prepared himself for a run, although it was too late already. Mister saihara dashed forward, catching the boy off guard as he gripped onto the collar of his dark grey shirt and hoisted him up in the air to the point he had to stand on his tippy toes so he could provide himself of enough air. 

His face must have paled quite a bit from the shock of  _ this  _ happening and the fact that his father was terrifying when he was pissed, because the grip on the rough fabric loosened a little bit for just a second only for him to tighten his hold a little while later and growl in the boy’s face. It was almost as if he was asserting dominance, and Shuichi hated it. He hated everything about it, how he was unable to do anything about this, and how he was going to listen to his parents eventually anyway. ‘You will never say no to your mother or I again, you hear me, kid?’, his dad hissed angrily, and with a soft gulp Shuichi nodded frantically, just wanting this moment to be over and to feel like he could breathe again. Usually his mother wouldn’t be too keen on this aggressive way of acting of her husband, but now she seemed too dazed to care about the occurrence. 

His father let go of him, and with a soft thud Shuichi landed back on the wooden floor again, being able to hear the hollow space underneath there. The skin hurted quite a bit now, but he decided to ignore that. ‘Go pack your bags, if you want to take anything with’, mr. Saihara said waving him off. ‘Don’t pack too much, they don’t have a lot of room for you, obviously’. Angrily, and just very not okay with this, the aspiring detective gritted his teeth as he rocked back and forth on his heels to calm himself down. 

‘Yes, father’, he muttered to their request, hoping he spat the words out as much as he felt like he did, before going to the small room he called his own to fill a bag with what he could need. 

* * *

‘Are you ready to take off?’, the voice of his uncle that he could recognize from anywhere sounded as the man leaned against the doorframe and watched his nephew sling a single back over his shoulder with a nod. ‘Yeah. Although I don’t get why I can’t just stay here and help you with your business’, Shuichi told him with a small frown, wrapping the coat he used for travels tighter around himself as they made their way to the front of the house. The bluenette found it easier to be honest and straightforward towards his uncle, as the guy would actually listen to him most of the time, and had a lot of the same opinions on different things. Still, this was something he obviously couldn’t talk Saihara’s parents out of. Now that Shuichi thought about it, perhaps it wasn’t that big of a problem after all; at least he wouldn’t have to live with his parents, constantly on edge for what they might think of him, anymore.

The older man smiled sadly at Shuichi, and wasn’t really able to respond to his dismay of having to leave his hometown. ‘It is honestly not so bad. I’ve been there a couple of times, actually, in Lavender Kingdom. That was years ago, though. But I know it’s a nice place’, he said to reassure his nephew, leading him outside by the arm. ‘You have?’, Shuichi asked, eyes a little wider than before, as he didn’t hear a lot about his uncle’s travels since his parents tried to distance him from the guy as much as possible, although he did come in handy being able to ride a horse when their son had to be brought to another kingdom, he supposed. 

‘Yeah. The ride is pretty long, so I suppose I can tell you some about it when we’re on our way. Anyone you want to say farewell to?’, he asked, the same color of eyes that the bluenette recognized from himself looking at him generously, making the boy smile a bit; maybe the biggest problem he had with this was the fact that everything was going to change, not the change itself. That was a bit reassuring, at least. ‘Not really, I’m not really popular amongst these folks’, Shuichi told his uncle with a sigh, hearing his soft laugh. ‘That sounds familiar’, he told him with a bashful grin, making Shuichi laugh softly as well. At least they were in it together, he supposed. 

The horse he could easily recognize belonged to his uncle, well kept and the light brown fur or hairs it had neatly taken care of, didn’t seem to phased as he stood where he was supposed to, probably not recognizing Shuichi Saihara, since it was a long time ago that the boy could freely spend time with his uncle. As his uncle made the animal ready for the travel, Shuichi sighed softly and only kept his hand on the soft side of Usami. He probably should say his goodbyes to Kiibo actually, now he thought about it, but he didn’t know exactly what to tell him; it came just as much as a surprise to Shuichi as it would to his neighbor. Besides, they would probably travel past his house, and since the weather was quite nice it wouldn’t be a surprise to the bluenette if he could find him and his girlfriend simply sitting in their garden like they did a lot. That was one of the reasons why this town didn’t really appreciate the male; his girlfriend was… a lot, to put it nicely. Since Kiibo wasn’t really one to tell her what she could and couldn’t do, she was granted a lot more freedom to do what she liked than most women in the city would have liked. 

As soon as the man was ready, with a little bit of help Shuichi was placed behind him on the animal, and he felt a bit unsteady as it started to move under his uncle’s command; he definitely wasn’t used to this anymore. Gripping onto the back of his clothes, the bluenette looked at the back of his head, and contemplated whether or not to start talking already, since the ride was probably going to be long. The sun shone brightly down at them, making the boy wish he hadn’t put on his coat at all, but that was something that couldn’t be changed now. It was still early in the morning but the village was wide awake, people carrying baskets of different types of fruits for the market and children running around and pissing of their parents, but there was something all of them had in common. The look on their face as they watched the two males travel, that is. A while back Shuichi had accidentally solved a certain case with his uncle that wasn’t exactly in favor of the people of their town, and had cost them quite a sum of money which made that the taxes got raised, and the two detectives (one aspiring detective, but still) were still blamed and loathed for this. 

Hearing his uncle chuckle softly at their own expense was somewhat comforting to the boy as he decided not to look at those around them anymore, but instead to focus on the travel. ‘So, this Lavender Kingdom. You said you’ve been there before?’, Shuichi asked, not faking the interest in his voice as he definitely was down to hear yet another story from his uncle. ‘Sure have, kid’, his uncle responded, the smile evident in his voice as his back moved funnily from the movements of the animal they were riding on. ‘When I got there around twenty years ago, it was a breathtaking place. I can still remember the countryside with its millions of lavender flowers, which also gave a scent one wouldn’t easily forget. The people were really gentle too, kind, generous even. Although most towns and kingdoms I have been to so far despised the work of a detective, these people were quite fond of me, it seemed. Probably because I used to work on my own, and didn’t have one of those shady big businesses, you know?’, the older man began explaining, with a pause for a while which made Shuichi aware of the clicking hooves of the horse that echoed through the streets, being drowned out by happy clamor of the younger folks that also rushed by so now and then. It was nice to think that he was going to be among gentle people. 

‘However’, his uncle then said, the mood shifting a bit which caught Shuichi off guard. ‘Now I’ve heard that the mood in this kingdom isn’t what it used to be. I know they still have the same royal family on the throne, so that’s not exactly the problem, don’t worry. In the palace everything surely is still as bright as ever, so you shouldn’t worry about it too much. Things have been different ever since the heir was born’, his uncle murmured, but the bluenette could still hear his speech, frowning a bit. ‘That’s strange’, he commented, seeing the man nod. ‘Definitely is. It’s almost as if the king and queen let some kind of parasite inside of their kingdom with that one. For as far as I’m aware, they weren’t able to have kids at all even though they tried. And there he was, out of nowhere. Oh, but this is probably troubling you now, I’m sure it won’t be anything for you to be concerned about’, his uncle swiftly told him, realising his mistake. It still played on Shuichi’s mind afterwards when his uncle tried to change the subject back to how it used to be and what he had done during his stay there. 

Eventually, after both the Saiharas started to get used to the sun being very harsh to them that day, and after just a small while of tiring travel, they reached the outer part of the village; one that Shuichi could easily recognize, since whom he still called his neighbor even though the blue haired male didn’t live there with his family anymore, also lived near there. Some things were just hard to change, he supposed. Still, seeing the flock of white hair kneeled near some strange looking bushes in the garden that the both of them owned, made Shuichi smile a little. 

Unfortunately for them, Miu Iruma, who was Kiibo’s girlfriend, was also sitting in their shared garden at the moment, wearing something very… open as usual, tanning her skin as her boyfriend was doing whatever he was supposed to be doing, and Shuichi felt embarrassed as he watched the gaze of his uncle set on the younger lady. It couldn’t be helped, he supposed. ‘Hey, Kee-baby, it’s emo virgin!’, the voice of the loud inventor girl sounded, making Saihara a bit red at the ears. Kiibo looked up from where he was standing, a rather cute apron on him as he apparently was busy gardening, and with a gentle smile he waved at the pair nearing their house. ‘Hey, Saihara. What are you both doing here?’, the male asked as he looked at them with interest; it wasn’t that hard to see that the both of them were related, since they had a similar facial structure, although Shuichi’s (to his dismay) was a little more feminine than his uncle’s was. ‘Oh, well, you know. Apparently my parents decided that becoming a servant at Lavender Kingdom would be a great career choice for me’, Shuichi told the man in honesty as his uncle stopped the horse for a moment to grant his nephew time to speak to his apparent only friend in this town. 

At first Kiibo looked quite troubled, the scissors he was using to alter finer twigs from the strange looking bush he had been tending to still snapping once or twice as he thought about what to say. Then, a reassuring smile set on his face, something that wasn’t really usual since he oftentimes seemed like he forced expressions to seem human. ‘Ah, well then, best of luck to you. If you ever need anything, you’re always welcome here’, the white haired male told him, and Shuichi couldn’t help but to return the smile. For some reason the short interaction was enough to cheer the aspiring detective up a little, and to make his worries about where he was going rest just the slightest bit. Kiibo was right; if he couldn’t handle being there, he could always return here in some way. ‘Thanks, Keebs’, Shuichi told him with a soft chuckle as his face reddened a bit at the nickname, hearing his girlfriend that overheard the conversation cackle a bit. ‘Well, goodbye. You too, Iruma’, Saihara added to be polite as his uncle got the hint that they were supposed to be moving again, the light pink haired woman waving absentmindedly, but Kiibo’s caring gaze still on the both of them as they departed the hometown and only town that Shuichi was familiar with so far.    
  


The blue haired male was sipping on a half emptied water bottle as he listened to his uncle ramble during their trip. The cold liquid kept him from falling over because of the sun, which was good in a way. The travel really was long, and luckily his uncle was quite the talker, otherwise Shuichi wouldn’t have been sure if he would be able to survive it.  _ Luckily we didn’t have to walk all the way here _ , is what he kept repeating to himself in his head to keep his spirit a little positive. Suddenly though, the continuous talking of the man that was giving Usami directions ceased, and he was left in the silence with as only exception the sound of dissatisfied hooves prodding through a poor excuse of a pathway. At first Shuichi questioned what was going on, but almost as soon as his lips were fully parted, his mouth closed itself again when he took in the place around him. 

It was strange that he hadn’t noticed this before, but they were nearing a large wall, one that seemed somewhat familiar for whatever reason. That wasn’t what was the problem, however. The thing was, the atmosphere around here was a  _ lot  _ different from the town he just left, and he didn’t realise it up till now, which was strange. Somewhere the feel changed from a happy and careless albeit a little nerve wrecking trip, to this gloomy and threatening space that felt thicker than fog to breathe through. Almost as if a switch was flicked, the sun wasn’t really apparent anymore, the change foreign and a bit concerning. The sky was a lot greyer here, Shuichi noted, and he didn’t realise just how tired his limbs were before. ‘Welcome back’, his uncle muttered to himself, keeping his gaze on the tall creation of bricks to keep intruders from attacking the kingdom easily. 

What also easily caught his eye was a smaller path leading to a house that was hidden behind some strange looking trees, but not hidden well enough not to be noticeable it seemed. It was one of those typical stone buildings that made him suppose some type of old and lonely person resided in there. It was a little bit strange though, since the house wasn’t inside of the kingdom that was so very close to it, and therefore not under its protection. It would almost seem as if that was done on purpose, but Shuichi couldn’t quickly assume such things. Knowing his nephew at least a bit, mr. Saihara decided to speak up about it, following the glance of the boy behind him and also seeing the old house. ‘All I’ve heard about that place are rumors, so I can’t be sure. Do you want to know?’, he asked, a strange look on his face. 

Curiosity taking over, Shuichi nodded anyway, since even if they were only rumors and not confirmed, he would like to learn a bit about this town’s way of thinking anyway. ‘Well’, his uncle started the story as he softly ran a hand over the skin near Usami’s neck as to calm her, ‘It’s a long story short, but most of the Lavender people believe a witch to live in there. No one dares to confirm this, however, and I think they’re right to do so. Last time someone tried to check on the house, they didn’t return’, the man began his story, and although it was probably just some spicy story the citizens of the kingdom had thought of, it still managed to give Shuichi the creeps. ‘Anyway, some actually think that this witch might be connected to why the kingdom is so gloomy these days. Some even say they spotted her during the days that the new heir was born, and some even dislike the guy because of this. It is said that the witch put a spell on the prince, something that had to do with his eighteenth birthday, I believe. That’s where the story gets tricky; some think he might just die on his eighteenth birthday, others say that something will be stopping him from becoming a king and it will start once he becomes eighteen, and there is even a minority of people that believe he himself will start to behave like the witch once that birthday nears. I can’t say if any of this holds even the littlest bit of truth, though, but I do guess that it’s an interesting story’, his uncle spoke with interest in his own story, and although they were now nearing the entrance of the kingdom, Shuichi still felt a bit uneasy as he watched the supposed witch’s house behind them. 

Once they were inside of the actual Lavender Kingdom, things didn’t seem a lot better. The air was still heavy and tense, as if things were about to go down any second now, and it didn’t make the male any less uncomfortable. Some people were out to check up on drying clothes or to work, and all of them had something in common; the tired expression they wore. It was kind of sad to see; even as Shuichi was lifted off the horse and was ready to walk a bit since they were close to the castle anyway, he felt the tired yet interested eyes on him every step he took. This wasn’t exactly what he had imagined when his uncle told him about the place he had visited many years ago. 

He felt a hand being placed on his shoulder, and that’s when he realised that he was again thinking too much, as he got brought back down to earth basically by the man he was traveling with. ‘Hey, don’t worry too much, alright? The king and queen are really nice people, and I think the atmosphere in the royal house is much better than here. You’re a Saihara, so chin up, kid’, his uncle spoke with a soft smile, seeing Shuichi nod in response. It was going to be fine, he wouldn’t be in the worst situation. Yeah, he wasn’t keen on the idea of having to be a servant to perhaps a cursed royal family, but at least it wouldn’t be too bad and he wouldn’t have to worry if he could eat some days, since obviously they would keep their staff fed at least enough to have them be able to work every day. 

Once the village-part of the kingdom basically came to a stop, they noticed how the road got a little harder to walk as they were going up a steeper hill, although it wasn’t too bad; Usami could easily move over it, being a horse and all. It wasn’t exactly the sight of the big castle that made Shuichi frown, or the fact that his limbs were hurting a bit, but it was the countryside he was seeing.   
Again, it was quite a bit different from what his uncle had told him, and this time, the man also seemed to be a bit baffled by this fact. He had told Shuichi about the many flowers that had been there, which the kingdom thanked its name for, and yeah, they were still there. But the thing was... they looked really dull, almost grey in a depressing way, and the scent wasn’t even that noticeable. It filled the male with a strange sense of despair, as if things weren’t supposed to be this way. With a small frown that still didn’t want to leave his face, Saihara decided to ignore the feeling and to continue walking without saying anything. 

Once the males reached the path that led up to the castle’s gates, Shuichi’s uncle took a halt and once again placed his hand on his nephew’s shoulder. ‘Here’s where we go our separate ways, Shuichi’, the man spoke with a hint of sadness in his voice, although he tried his best to seem happy for his nephew as he gave him a reassuring look. With a nod, Shuichi gave the tiniest smile back, as he decided to look his uncle in the eye this time; it might be a long time that he would ever be able to do so again, after all. The older man sighed softly, and ruffled his hair, to Shuichi’s irritation since he had tried his best to keep his hair down. ‘It’s gonna be just fine, y’hear me? You know your parents are quite a lot to handle sometimes, but I’m proud of you, alright?’, his uncle told him, earning another nod from the aspiring detective. ‘I’ll see you again some time. You can always try to contact me if you need anything’, mr. Saihara ended with, before turning around with Usami to make his way back home. 

Before Shuichi dared to even knock at the gate, he waited to see the form of his uncle he trusted most out of his family getting further and further away, although the man did sneak small glances over his shoulder from time to time. As soon as the male became blurry and Saihara couldn’t quite make out where he was anymore, he took a deep breath, and turned on his heels to face the castle. Grabbing a hold of the strings of his small backpack that only held a change of clothes, his notebook and some sort of necklace that Kiibo had gifted him on one of his birthdays, he stepped forward and raised an awkwardly balled fist. 

Very soon the door was thrown open, and he was met with the sight of a mature yet somewhat young as well looking woman in what definitely seemed like maid clothes, who bowed down a little bit to him. ‘Ah, Saihara, I assume?’, the woman asked him, and Shuichi smiled a bit awkwardly, deciding to bow a bit back, since he wasn’t used to doing so. ‘Yeah, that’s me’, he told her, biting his lip afterward as he wasn’t really sure what he was supposed to do. The woman just looked like she had much more experience with this, and while that was a bit comforting, it also was somewhat frightening as well. ‘My name is Kirumi Tojo. Please, come in’, she told him politely as the gate was opened a bit more, and the bluenette actually had the chance to enter the grand building. 

Needless to say that everything inside of the castle just seemed big, unusual and expensive. All the rugs, the paintings, the chandeliers and even the  _ doorknobs  _ seemed like they must have cost a fortune, and Shuichi’s mouth was definitely agape as he took everything in. The place, at least for as far as he could tell here, was golden and red themed, with soft walls that let the greatest paintings with nice frames come out very nicely. Candles, chandeliers, small tables and cupboards and whatever else could be needed was placed all along the walls, and the fact that this was only the hall he was in made Saihara think about how much else he was going to see. It was a bit overwhelming, really, both in a good and bad way. 

‘If you would follow me, I will show you to king and queen Ouma. They have been awaiting your arrival’, Kirumi mentioned softly after a while of letting the boy watch every little detail of this place with interest. A bit sheepishly Shuichi nodded swiftly, realising he was only taking time off of her probably filled schedule. ‘Ah, right, sorry’, he said, and followed the maid as she walked through the different halls and rooms, something that would be hard to commit to memory, Shuichi already understood. 

He was being greet by some other servants and maids, although he was pretty sure that with a place as big as this some of them he probably wouldn’t even see again. Still, the feeling inside of the castle was indeed a lot less gloomy, although most of the servants still seemed a bit tense, but that couldn’t be helped he supposed. It was a nice change from the strange village he had walked through, and it managed to at least calm him down a bit. Maybe because the realisation that he was going to meet actual royalty hadn’t quite sunk in yet, he was able to follow the silver or grey haired woman quite easily. 

The first thing he noticed about the royal family apart from the sudden rush of nerves he felt when actually being met with them, was that they indeed were pretty nice, like his uncle had said. ‘Ah, Saihara, right? Wonderful! I hope you had a safe travel’, Lady Ouma immediately spoke up with a fond smile, making Shuichi involuntarily smile back, although he bowed for her instead of showing this gratitude any other way like he was used to, reminding himself that this woman was far above him in any way, even if that made him more nervous. ‘A-ah, yes, I did. Thank you, your majesty’, he spoke, his voice quivering a bit, but luckily it didn’t seem like the woman minded. Instead, she laughed softly, a warm sound that made Shuichi feel at ease somehow, even though it was perhaps a little strange. ‘Just Lady is enough, but you are welcome’, she chirped happily, making Shuichi scratch his arm awkwardly. He at least wasn’t aware that humble royalty existed, but it seemed like it did. ‘Right, sor- my apologies’, he cleared his throat softly, hoping he would get the hang of this soon. 

‘Well, if you need any help at first, I’m sure that Tojo is more than willing to help you. Since you just arrived here, you can take it a bit easy for now; Kirumi can show you the lay out of the building later and instead bring you to the dormitory for other servants like you’, Lady Ouma spoke again, as her husband was more the quiet type, but he didn’t seem like he held much malice either. ‘At first you’ll be able to just go along with what Tojo does, and when you find your own specialty, I’m sure we will find you the right tasks. And you shouldn’t worry about prince Ouma too much, as you presumably won’t see much of him yet’, the queen then waved him off with delicate gloves wrapped neatly around her hands and fingers. 

Speaking of prince Ouma, he wasn’t there in the room to greet Shuichi upon his arrival. It was a little strange maybe, but Saihara supposed that he had his reasons, and didn’t want to press it if he could just go to the dorms now like what was expected of him. 


	3. Prince Ouma

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Look, I.. I’m sorry. Let me start over again. My name is Shuichi Saihara, uh, I’m a new servant here’, Shuichi began with a small nervous smile, although the boy just glared at him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Let's pretend like I use the honorifics like they're supposed to and like I actually know anything about any language at all, m'kay? Great. Yeah sorry for that.   
> (also I'm too lazy to reread sorry)
> 
> Anyway this is basically just  
> fic: how hard of a person do you want ouma to be to handle?  
> me: yes

Walking behind Kirumi as she led him to where the dorms for those that were part of the staff of the castle were, felt a little bit familiar to Shuichi, and he was glad that it did. When he was younger he was used to trail like that behind his mother every time they would go anywhere, avoiding the gazes of people on him that would comment on the boy being cute and things like that, which even at a young age embarrassed the male to no end. But eventually, his mother had told him that he would need to face his problems himself and she couldn’t keep on holding his hand for him, which he supposed was kind of fair. At least the strangely suggestive comments came to a complete stop after his hometown started to resent him and his uncle for their detective work. 

Kirumi Tojo, with her neatly done hair and her stately yet obedient way of walking and speaking, as if she knew her place exactly and yet was sure of herself in many ways, it reminded the detective a little of the mother he used to know. They had never been that rich, which is putting it lightly. Sure, his parents complained about him wanting to become a detective, but they never complained about the cash that his uncle brought with him back home whenever he could to provide for them when they were on the brink of having to get rid of more than they could actually afford to lose. She had a sense of protectiveness, the maid, which Shuichi definitely missed his last couple of years. He wasn’t perse someone that would purposely let others walk all over him, but he didn’t mind being a follower instead of a leader as a person. 

As they were walking through the well lit halls the young yet mature woman explained some of the rooms to him, something that Saihara tried to keep in mind, but since the place was so large he was sure he would probably not even be able to remember half of it at the moment. The castle was truly breathtaking, he had to admit: every painting and every different candle and every single color scheme he could notice in the different rooms complimented each other perfectly and made the place feel more welcoming in a way, as well as making Saihara think that he probably didn’t really fit in here. The most expensive thing the bluenette ever held in his life was one of Miu Iruma’s tools she used to make inventions, and that was saying quite a lot. Every door the maid would open to lead Shuichi through, he didn’t dare to even touch the doorknobs of since he was convinced they were probably worth more than the new servant could afford for anything. 

‘And here is the hall that leads to all the single rooms’, Tojo’s tour came to a finish as her pace slowed down a bit when they neared a very long hall, with many doors to the left and a lot of windows to the right, although they were covered with what looked like satin curtains, again a dark red with golden details sewed in them beautifully. Shuichi supposed that since the view wasn’t great, considering the kind of grey sky and gloomy city that they were in currently, they would rather keep most of the curtains closed, while keeping some open simply to let some natural light enter the place. 

‘Every door has a small card on there with the name of the servant it belongs to written on there, and we have prepared a room for you as well, so you could retreat there for now if you’d like’, Kirumi finished as she stood still, and so did Shuichi. The woman clasped her gloved hands together and watched the blue haired male almost expectantly for a moment, although all he did was bow a bit and thank her softly for her help. ‘Oh, would you look at that’, she muttered suddenly as she moved to the bigger window, fingers pressing carefully on the glass as she seemed to be a bit in thought, a troubled look on her face. ‘Is something wrong?’, Shuichi asked curiously, joining her, but he himself didn’t really see anything that was worth noting outside of the window. He could vaguely see the outlines of the small village that he had traveled through before, and the lavender flowers that were only scattered across the grass almost sorrowfully. 

Kirumi seemed a little startled as Saihara spoke up, as if she wasn’t aware that he was still there, but didn’t tell him this. A polite smile set on her face, one that didn’t exactly reach her eyes, and she shook her head shortly. ‘Nothing to concern yourself about. It is going to rain, it seems. I will have to warn our gardener Gokuhara to come inside. Although he is a rather lovely young man, he is not very intelligent, so if you will excuse me’, the woman told him as she left with quick strides, the soft clicking of heels hearable through the long hall that seemed almost empty. 

Shuichi watched the form of the woman slowly getting further and further away from him until she took a left turn and he couldn’t see her anymore, and let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. Although he never used to enjoy being completely on his own as a kid, he eventually grew to like being alone at times and taking a bit of time off for himself, so even though Kirumi wasn’t much of a bother he was glad that he had some time to think completely for himself again. He let his eyes roam over the different doors, seeing most of the names that were written on the small nameplates on them, and he supposed his room was a bit further back, so he started to move his feet again. The soft snores he could hear in front of one of the doors that he passed made him chuckle quietly for no reason in particular; yes, he liked being alone, but he supposed it wouldn’t be a bad thing to have people around him either. 

Eventually he noticed that the rooms weren’t in any type of order as far as he could tell, so he told himself that the fact it took him longer than necessary to find his own room wasn’t too weird. Checking all the nameplates and being intrigued by some of the names alone for several reasons, he finally found the white door that belonged to him: ‘Shuichi Saihara’, the male muttered as his fingers found the wooden nameplate, one that seemed fairly new in contrast to the other ones. Luckily the door handle wasn’t as expensive looking as most of the others in the palace, so he wouldn’t feel too bad having to touch them, although that thought alone was perhaps a little strange. He smiled softly to himself, opening the door, and getting ready for whatever he would find inside. 

His moment of rest and peace was short lived, however. Feeling and hearing the presence of someone near him, Saihara didn’t really have the time to check out what his room looked like from the inside, and instead was met with a rather handsome looking male, a strange shade of green hair reminding the aspiring detective that he was one of the servants that waved at him once he entered the castle. ‘...Hi?’, Shuichi asked carefully, hoping he wasn’t doing anything wrong and was going to get some kind of lecture from this guy. ‘Hello, I don’t think we’ve been introduced. The name is Rantaro Amami’, the guy said with a reassuring expression on his face as he noticed the nerves that the bluenette had, and extended a hand for Saihara to take. He seemed friendly enough, so the new servant took his hand, and shook it politely. ‘I’m Shuichi Saihara. But… is something the matter?’, he asked curiously, since he didn’t think the green haired male came to him simply to introduce himself, because none of the other servants had done so so far. 

‘Well…’, Rantaro started, visibly thinking of how to bring the news, something that also kind of got on Shuichi’s nerves. Eventually the older servant just sighed softly and shrugged his shoulders a bit. ‘Prince Ouma asked for you, I’m supposed to help you find where he is, since you’re new here and all’, Amami told him eventually. There was a strange hint of remorse in his deep eyes that definitely hid more information behind than he was giving the aspiring detective, and although it was a little unsettling, he decided not to press on it yet since he was the new guy here and probably shouldn’t look too far into personal matters yet. ‘Already?’, he couldn’t help but to ask, since if he remembered correctly, queen Ouma (who he probably should start calling Lady Ouma in his head like the woman wanted him to) had told him that he probably wouldn’t notice much of the prince at first. He had taken her word for it of course. That, and as well the fact that the king and queen had basically told him today he wouldn’t really have to do much yet since he had to get used to this new type of life, made him wonder why he still was requested to go to the prince anyway. 

‘It would appear so. Follow me?’, the other male asked, although it seemed more like a statement than a question. With a quiet sigh that he hoped Rantaro wouldn’t pick up on, Shuichi nodded, and once again was following a person through the castle halls, although this time he was walking next to the guy and actually having a small conversation with him. He was different than Tojo as a servant, more relaxed it seemed, although he still seemed a bit tense when the subject of the royal family came up. It couldn’t be helped, Shuichi supposed, since he couldn’t be sure what to say and what not to say about the family. 

They soon reached a part of the castle that Shuichi had not yet seen before, and he was a bit surprised to see that the color scheme here was a little different. A nice shade of purple and dark wood was here what they seemed to fancy, and it was a nice combination with the silver instead of golden objects he could find across the halls. There were less paintings of people and more of different places and still lifes in general, which Saihara supposed was interesting. Amami soon noticed his curious gaze at the different style he was seeing here, and hummed softly. ‘Ah, this part of the castle is basically prince Ouma’s. He… redecorated it, I suppose, to dismay of the king and queen’, Rantaro explained as they walked through the long hall. 

A curious yet confused frown set on Shuichi’s face as he noticed a small group of servants trying to clean a part of the wall up where apparently strange paint was splattered across, and although they were halfway done with their duty, Saihara could still notice the.. creative clown symbols and other doodles that were made on the wall. A hand was placed on his shoulder as Rantaro kept him from standing still and observing the wall, and instead pushed him to walk a little further. ‘Prince Ouma has some hobbies that not everyone agrees with, one of those things being... painting. You shouldn’t pay too much mind to it’, Amami muttered as a short explanation. It seemed more like the prince’s hobby was to vandalize stuff, but Shuichi decided not to make that comment out loud. 

The pair stopped in front of a suspicious looking door, and the green haired servant gestured to the door calmly. ‘He is in the sitting room. I will be staying right outside the door, so if you have any troubles, you can come to me’, Rantaro continued with a small yet confident smile as he as well eyed the door, blinking. Saihara wanted to thank him, yet some part of that sentence was stuck on his mind before he could simply move on, and he frowned a bit as he glanced at the male that was standing next to him. ‘That indicates I might get in trouble’, the bluenette noted carefully, arms folding over his chest almost as if to protect himself for the answer. 

Amami seemed a little caught off guard by Saihara actually reading into what he was saying, and with a kind of embarrassed chuckle he rubbed his neck almost sheepishly. ‘Ah, well, I suppose you are right’, is all he could really say, which wasn’t exactly reassuring to Shuichi. Before he could ask any more questions or make the servant a bit more awkward by having him expose things he probably didn’t want to, the green haired servant stepped forward and opened the door for him, gesturing for Shuichi to just go inside. And, since the male guessed that it was better just to get introductions over with, he didn’t hesitate too much before stepping into the room, even if he heard the soft click of the door closing behind him which was a little bit concerning. 

First things first, the room itself wasn’t that special, if he took every other place in the castle he had seen so far into consideration. It was a sitting room with probably a bit more decoration than it really needed, and everything in there seemed fairly new if he had to be honest; he couldn’t really feel much personality in the room, and the couches and chairs he saw so far didn’t seem like they had been sat on many times before. There was a painting or two hung in there as well, together with again some fancy silver chandelier to light up the place. The wall next to him was painted a light purple, and had strange little icons drawn on it, which did catch his attention very quickly; the smell of paint still hung in the air a little bit, so it seemed like this had been a fairly new addition to the room. 

No, what immediately stood out was the person that was sitting on one of the chairs, clad in expensive clothes and neatly done up yet wearing an expression that looked anything but royal. 

If Shuichi would say that he didn’t take a sharp breath when he was met with the sight of this person, he would be lying. He was a very interesting individual, maybe even a little bit threatening, the bluenette could already tell. His face was very boyish yet had soft shapes as well, confusing the servant a little bit. With what Shuichi wouldn’t know if he should call it a sharp or soft nose and modest lips, small yet noticeable brows and cheeks that were less rosy than Saihara remembered himself having, the boy had a quite small figure. Even though he had a child like appearance almost, it was still somewhat obvious to the aspiring detective that he couldn’t be much younger than Shuichi was. But that wasn’t the thing that intrigued him the most, no. The fancy looking male sported the most interesting purple eyes that Shuichi had ever seen. The shade was rather particular and almost as if painted on there, although he was fairly sure that this wasn’t possible. To go with the eyes, his dark and slightly unruly, bouncy hair that was apparently cut off at random parts yet fell together quite nicely with its length was as well a shade of purple now that Shuichi paid attention to it.

Small yet prominent lashes batted at him, and it managed to get the servant out of this daze of looking at the male, and now he noticed that the kind of curious expression he had worn before was replaced by a blank one. Shuichi cleared his throat softly, as he realised that this was probably the  _ prince Ouma  _ he had been told about, and like he had seen other servants do he bowed a little bit for him. ‘You… called me here?’, he tried carefully, not sure what type of aura was coming from the male, and therefore deciding not to be too open himself either yet. 

‘Uh, yeah I did,  _ hours  _ ago!’, the guy suddenly snapped, jumping up on the couch that he was sitting on, and for a moment Saihara was scared that he wouldn’t be able to keep his balance. He flinched a bit from the loud noise and cowered back a bit, a panic rising in his chest.  _ This was the first task he may have gotten here and he already screwed it up, he only arrived an hour or so-.  _ That was strange. If this guy said hours ago, he would be mistaken, since it hadn’t even been two hours since Shuichi had arrived here. ‘U-uh, I’m sorry, but I only arrived about an hour ago’, the bluenette spoke up carefully, deciding to stand his ground. 

Once again the blank expression fell over the boy’s face, before it turned into an almost childish grin. ‘Nee-hee, you totally fell for that! That was a lie, I just ask ranran to get you here’, the guy said, his voice a pitch higher than before as he jumped to sit back down, basically with a poof landing on the soft cushion of the couch, his legs kicking almost childishly. Shuichi could only watch him do this, with a strange feeling setting in his chest. This was supposed to be prince Ouma right, so why was he acting.. well, like  _ this _ ? __

‘...Ranran?’, Shuichi muttered as a question, a small frown setting on his face. The purple haired male puffed out his cheeks and tapped on them as if he was playing some sort of instrument, something Saihara could remember himself doing as well when he was younger. ‘Yeah, that green haired idiot that brought you here? You know, the one with the sexy voice and the funny walk?’, the male said as if it was obvious, getting up and imitating the walk of his servant, as Saihara bit his lip. It was kind of on point, if he had to be honest, but the conversation was a little strange. As the purple haired guy stood up, Shuichi could smell a soft scent of lavender mixed with what he presumed was something sweet coming from him, reminding him of the flowers he had seen outside. 

‘Anyway!’, the male snapped his fingers, startling Shuichi a bit as his gaze met those purple eyes, and he quickly averted his eyes. The playful grin was gone, and instead made place for a more calculating look. With how quickly his stance could change Saihara’s confusion only grew, but so did his interest if he had to be honest. ‘So, as you can already guess, I’m prince Kokichi Ouma, and I can assume you are Shuichi Saihara, right?’, he asked, his head tilting a bit as he tried to make his gaze meet Shuichi’s, but the boy stubbornly kept looking at the floor, or at least anywhere except that confusing face of his. ‘Right’, the blue haired servant shortly replied with a nod. 

‘So, is there a reason why you didn’t come see me as soon as you arrived?’, Kokichi asked with a raised brow, somewhat of a nasty look on his face as if he was judging Shuichi, and the boy gulped quietly. ‘Huh?’, he asked, a little confused. After all, there was no reason for him to be mad for the fact that the new servant decided to greet the king and queen first, and besides, he didn’t even know where the prince was at that time, so he couldn’t have come by. ‘You know, you’re very rude’, Ouma accused him, making the boy’s eyes widen a bit as he took a step back and got a little defensive. ‘N-no, wait, sorry, I-’, Shuichi started, the worry evident on his face as he was interrupted by a sudden loud wailing from the prince in front of him, thick tears rolling down his cheeks. The blue haired servant let his eyes roam across the room to see what he could do, preferably to locate if there were any napkins nearby he could give the purple haired male in the room, but suddenly the crying stopped, as he wiped a small hand over his eyes. 

Shuichi watched him, baffled and speechless as the guy yawned, and gestured again to him while looking away from him as if this whole thing was just a boring other contact moment. ‘I’m bored, go get me some food or something’, he grumbled. The changes in mood that this male was going through made Saihara’s head spin as he couldn't keep up with him; this prince Ouma person or whoever he might be was like a warning contradiction, it seemed so far. ‘I’m sorry, I don’t know where the kitchen is…’, the servant spoke quietly, almost not daring to mention this, and bit his lip as the annoyed eyes of the prince set on him. ‘You gotta speak up a little love, I can’t hear you when you’re mumbling’, Kokichi pointed out, although Shuichi could only feel himself become a little embarrassed. ‘L-love?’, he questioned, seeing the boy’s face turn into a grin. ‘Nishishi, that was a lie, of course I heard you! I’m a criminal, I’m not deaf’, he simply said, the energy he had at first returning, and now Saihara was sure he didn’t get him anymore. 

Shuichi swallowed a strange feeling in his throat, and eyed him suspiciously. ‘..You’re a criminal?’, he asked, seeing the blank expression return before the boy’s eyes widened. ‘Wh-what?’, Kokichi asked indignantly, his hands finding his cheeks as he got up and basically invaded Shuichi’s personal space, making the boy step back as a reaction. ‘H-how could you say that! Y-you’re so mean!’, the prince then sobbed, and the waterworks returned, making the bluenette very uncomfortable. He was acting like a child, but because of different small comments he had made Shuichi confirmed to himself that he wasn’t actually stupid; he seemed too intelligent to be doing this for no reason, yet here he was. Perhaps smart and crazy weren’t as far apart as he had initially thought, and the prince was here to teach him this. 

‘But  _ you  _ said it’, Shuichi pointed at him, not very in the mood to play his mind games. Dramatically the male grabbed onto the fabric near his chest, what would be about at the spot his heart was supposed to be. ‘You come into  _ my  _ kingdom, eat  _ my  _ food and sleep under  _ my  _ roof, and you have the audacity to lie to me? How horrible you are, mister Saihara! You liar, I hate liars!’, he called out, and Saihara just hoped he would lower his voice a bit so the servants outside of the room wouldn’t think something bad was happening and storm in, only to make Shuichi’s first impression even worse than it already was. 

Although Saihara had many things he could say to that, he decided that fighting against this guy verbally wouldn’t get them any further, so instead he took place at the soft armchair that was in front of the couch that the guy had flopped back onto, a depressed look on his face. ‘Look, I.. I’m sorry. Let me start over again. My name is Shuichi Saihara, uh, I’m a new servant here’, Shuichi began with a small nervous smile, although the boy just glared at him. ‘Not good enough’. 

‘What?’. 

‘I said, not good enough! Are you deaf? Did you lose your ear like that van Gogh guy?’. 

‘N-no, my ears are fine-’. 

‘Then use them, for God sake!’, Kokichi snapped at him, slamming his hand down on a small side table that was made of glass and had Shuichi fear it could maybe break. He flinched from the sound and cowered back in the chair, although his eyes opened soon enough to see a glint of remorse in the boy’s eyes. A soft smile crept onto his face, and he cupped his neck with his arms as he sat back calmly. ‘As I said, not good enough’, he repeated, his voice a bit lower now, and for some reason Saihara could sense a bit more carefulness in them now. ‘W-well, what do you want me to do?’, Shuichi asked confusedly, calming down a bit from the loudness that he was just thrown into without a fair warning. 

Placing a finger on his lips, Kokichi hummed as he was seemingly in thought, although a smirk set on his lips soon enough. ‘Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness’, he demanded, putting his chin up a bit, and although it was kind of funny, Saihara still blinked with wide eyes. ‘Uh, excuse me?’, he asked. Perhaps it was how this guy was acting that had him forget for a moment that prince Ouma was a part of the royal family and if someone like that told him to do something he should definitely do it, because he was feeling very reluctant to do something that embarrassing, definitely for this guy. ‘Come on, lick my shoes peasant, I don’t have all day’, the guy sneered, stretching out a leg and dangling his foot in front of the servant that sputtered as he sank back into the chair more. 

When Shuichi really seemed uncomfortable, Kokichi rolled his eyes and placed his feet both back on the floor as he hunched over a bit and leaned his elbows on his knees, face in his hands. ‘It’s a joke, jeez, don’t get your undergarments in a bunch’, the male grumbled, eyes still trained on Shuichi, which made him feel a bit weird. ‘Ah… I see’, Saihara responded, nodding as he relaxed a little and dared to sit up. 

It didn’t take that long for Shuichi to catch onto the males lying nature, and his tendency to moodshift when he was trying to play a joke on the servant, which most of the time realised a little too late that he was being messed with since he was just observing the prince now. He was a little annoying, sure. He was loud, and definitely didn’t speak how a royal should be speaking, swearing more than some of the thugs that lived in Saihara’s hometown, and yet again his way of acting was at times far more childlike, while he could make calculated comments to steer the conversation into an uncomfortable direction, only to yell out  _ that was a lie  _ afterwards and to laugh at Shuichi’s expense. 

‘So, that’s why every servant avoids the halls at night! So what do you think?’, Kokichi asked as he finished a story he was telling. In the meantime a young woman had entered the room with a cup of tea for the male, which he happily dropped three small packets of sugar into, before shoving it towards Shuichi and saying he didn’t like tea, so the bluenette was now sipping onto a far too sweet yet pleasantly warm beverage as he listened to the prince brag. ‘Hm, sorry, what?’, he asked, as he was too busy observing the male in front of him to actually listen to him. He was quite an interesting character, Shuichi had to admit, even if he kind of got on his nerves. 

‘You’re not even listening to me? And here I thought you loved me!’, Kokichi whined, pouting as he folded his arms over his chest grumpily. Shuichi almost spit out the bit of tea he was drinking, and coughed on it. ‘I-I never said such a thing!’, he quickly denied the false claim, hearing Ouma giggle afterwards at the fact that he almost spilled tea over himself. ‘Okay, fine, since you’re such a great listener, I’ll repeat what I said’, the male jabbed at him, and Shuichi decided to ignore this for now. 

‘So, as I was saying, decades ago everyone in the castle got killed by some strange ass villain that wanted everyone to die, obviously. So this place is haunted! Sometimes you can still hear the little girls weeping! Although, that could also be our nurse, she’s kind of a wuss. Anyways, castle, old, haunted, yippee’, Kokichi finished with a grin, clasping his hands together as he watched the bluenette. Many stories had gone like that so far, with many lies stocked in them and eventually turning out just to be a jab at one of the workers at the palace, and up till now Saihara had ignored every one of them, but since he was getting a little more comfortable now (which was weird considering the conversation), he couldn’t help but to say something anyway. ‘Oh, well that’s unfortunate’, he simply spoke as he sipped on the tea that was slowly getting colder now, blinking at the male in the room, whose smile faltered only a little bit as he tilted his head. ‘Why?’, he asked, failing to hide the curiosity in his tone. 

‘Well’, Shuichi said, shrugging, ‘I gave up my title of being a ghost buster to become your servant’. 

It was awfully quiet afterwards, and Saihara could feel his skin slowly turning redder as Kokichi watched him, again the blank expression back onto his face, although there was a glint of something like amusement in his eyes. Shuichi cleared his throat awkwardly and sheepishly rubbed his neck, looking away. ‘I- ah, my apologies, I was joking, that was probably inappropriate’, he excused himself; he should have known that he wasn’t as free as the royal prince himself was in what he wanted to say. 

‘Interesting’, Kokichi muttered, and the bluenette barely caught it, but he was kind of glad that he did. Soon enough the boy’s expression turned into a happy grin again, as he laughed softly. ‘Wow, I didn’t know you had it in you, Saihara-chan!’, Kokichi happily responded, seeing the face of his servant redden even more. ‘..Saihara- _ chan _ ?’, he questioned, the embarrassment evident in his voice, as he was once again caught off guard by the ways of Ouma. ‘Now leave, I have a whole lot of evil business to attend to’, the prince told him with a bored expression, ushering him to the door, although he had said before that he would be free the whole day and didn’t have anything better to do than to speak with Shuichi. 

As soon as Shuichi was finally outside of the sitting room and the door was closed behind him, no longer feeling the presence of Kokichi Ouma in the same room as him, he managed to release some of the tenseness to his body. Almost did he want to just lean against the door and try to recall what exactly happened, since it was a lot to comprehend and take in, but then he noticed the guy with the green hair that indeed kept to his word; Rantaro was still waiting outside for him, and he looked a little worried, probably since Shuichi had been in there for a longer period of time than he had anticipated. 

‘Is everything alright?’, Amami asked carefully, undoubtedly seeing the state of confusion that Saihara was in, and perhaps even being able to relate to it on a certain level. ‘Sure, yeah, I’m fine’, Shuichi answered with a small sigh afterwards, as he took a deep breath and calmed himself down. ‘Good, prince Ouma tends to get a little.. strange. He can be a lot, you know’, the green haired male told him, placing a reassuring hand on the boy’s shoulder, and Shuichi nodded, still coming to his senses from the strange experience. ‘Yeah, I noticed’, he responded in all honesty, seeing the male’s pitying gaze on him. 


	4. The Garden

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Chihiro clasped his hands together happily as he smiled softly at the guy, nodding excitedly. ‘Yes, there is a garden to this castle. I haven’t actually visited it in a while, but I know from the others around that it’s still just as beautiful! The gardener Tojo mentioned was probably Gonta, he’s a real sweetheart. I could introduce you to him as well!’, the boy chatted happily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Sorry if this chapter is a little boring, I had to rewrite the first part because I wasn't happy with it at all and I'm still not sure what to think of it. It's mostly to show how Shuichi settles in a bit more and realises that this isn't too bad, as well as showing more of why everyone is uncomfortable when Ouma is mentioned. (although I suppose that it was a bit logical, but this subtly explains the plot a bit more, as well as why it's tagged with fairytale au oops) 
> 
> Also, sorry that chihiro is ooc, I made him how I thought he would act had he been able to be alright with his lack of masculinity in game
> 
> Not beta read I'm lazy so sorry.
> 
> More shuichi / kokichi interactions next chapter probably, I'm slowly going to focus more on their relationship

After the events of meeting the “ _ infamous _ ” Kokichi Ouma, Rantaro had offered to help Shuichi to reach his new room again and for him to just rest for now, so he would feel less tired the next day that came. All that the other male told him is that someone would meet him at his room and tell him what exactly he was supposed to do, or to put it more simply, they would try to help him get introduced to the life as a servant. Queen’s orders, he heard. It was kind of nice to know that she cared enough to help him settle at least a bit comfortably. After the encounter with prince Ouma Shuichi had been particularly tired and just listened to what Amami was telling him with small hums as response to show he was still listening, and he decided to just immediately sleep; thinking about his room and investigating a bit would come later. 

The next morning, the boy woke up from a soft sounding noise that he supposed served as some type of alarm, and although it was fairly early, he had to admit that it was a nice way to wake up: the mattress he was laying on was way softer than he was used to sleeping on, and the covers kept his body warm just fine, which was kind of a problem to the boy sometimes. He was well rested for a change, and in his sleepy state, it made him smile a little bit. 

His eyes fluttered open as he realised that he still needed some time to get used to his new room, and he was now met with the pretty color scheme that he had ignored before. The walls were a pale creamy color, with a small pattern close to the floor and close to the ceiling. The floor itself was made of wood but there was some sort of rug placed there as well, to keep his feet warm as he just woke up he supposed. The light that was in his room lit the whole place up just fine if he turned it on, not so much a chandelier like he had seen before but fancy nonetheless. The bed he was sleeping in was significantly bigger than the old fashioned box bed he was used to back at home, and the pale white pillow and covers were nice and soft enough, even as the wood was a bit darker. There was a single closet in the room the same color as the wood from the bed was, and a nightstand that he had placed his bag on before he went to sleep. There was a door as well, which led to a small bathroom, something that didn’t fail to amaze the boy who hadn’t ever had a complete bathroom for himself, no matter how small it may have been. 

There was nothing special in the small cupboard that belonged to the nightstand, so a little reluctantly since he was laying fairly well where he was at the moment the male decided to get up anyway. His feet tapping over the soft rug he switched the light on carefully, ignoring his own pale form as his sleepwear wasn’t much to cover, and opened the doors of the closet that he found in the room. As he already figured, the drawer held pairs of clothing that were all very similar to each other. Since he would be working here, starting today, he decided that he didn’t mind these neat clothes, definitely not considering that his old attire wasn’t much to live with either. Carefully taking of the sleeping wear since his limbs were still aching from the trip he had made the day before without taking a single break, he slid on the white shirt, fumbling with the buttons as his stomach rumbled a little already: he had skipped dinner the day before as well. Now with less hesitation he put on the dark trousers that were softer against his skin than his usual pants, and finished up with the vest that he found in the closet as well, eyeing himself in the mirror that was in his small bathroom. He only cringed a little bit as he saw that his hair was fairly wild, and tried to get as much of the strands down as he could. For whatever reason his sleepy state reminded him of prince Ouma, and it made him feel a little weird to think more about the male than was absolutely necessary. 

He did seem a little suspicious though, as far as Shuichi could tell. If he was assuming correctly, most of the staff wasn’t exactly comfortable with talking about the royal family itself, and the biggest reason or problem seemed to be Kokichi himself. The king and queen were fine, loved even, but for their son it seemed to be a little different. Even they didn’t sound like they had really wanted Shuichi to get acquainted with him, and he supposed that he would have to figure out later why this was. 

Even though the knock against his door was timid and somewhat careful, it still startled the blue haired servant as he jumped a little where he was standing, frowning for having been so deep in thought. ‘Ah, uh, coming?’, he decided to call out so the person that was out there would know he wasn’t going to ignore them, and as a response he heard a soft laugh from outside of the door, although he was unable to identify if this voice belonged to a younger boy or simply a woman. Quickly putting on the polished shoes he was supposed to wear, Shuichi basically stumbled to the door as he didn’t want to keep the other person waiting. His clumsiness when he was a little anxious probably would be a hindrance since he was a servant after all, but he decided to ignore his mind that told him that he should’ve run away when he could to spare him of the embarrassment this job would certainly bring him. 

Taking a deep breath, Saihara opened the door and was met with an even smaller person than he had seen before. If from the voice he couldn’t make out if the person was male or female, he couldn’t either from their face. The person smiled at him gently, short brown hair brushed neatly but somehow a little playful as well, making them seem sweet in general. Although either could be true, something about the servant made them seem a little boyish, and as well as the fact that they were wearing pants like Shuichi was while the female workers tended to wear dresses. ‘Yeah, I’m a guy’, the voice spoke up again, making the bluenette blink and blush a bit in embarrassment as he realised that he had basically searched the guy with his eyes to come to a conclusion, and he stepped back quickly. ‘I-I, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to-’, he startled to ramble, but was calm down easily by the soft laugh of the male. ‘It’s fine!’, he told him, before holding out a hand to him like Shuichi was used to when greeting people. It made him feel a little at ease, and he grabbed the smaller hand, the handshake firm yet somehow also gentle, like the boy himself seemed as well. ‘My name is Chihiro Fujisaki, and I’ll show you around a bit today. I hope we can get along’, the smaller male smiled sweetly, making Saihara smile back in response. 

‘Ah, uh, I’m Shuichi Saihara, but I suppose you already know that’, the bluenette muttered as he realised that the guy probably knew the name of the person he was going to help ease into this type of life as a servant of a family as important as this one. So far everyone seemed nice enough, if not a little eccentric, so he probably needn’t worry too much about it, but worrying about things like that is something the aspiring detective was fairly good at. ‘Yes, I have been told your name, but not so much about you yet’, Chihiro responded, folding his hands together and rocking back and forth on his heels, seeming not too curious but nice enough anyway. Shuichi chuckled sheepishly and awkwardly rubbed his neck, avoiding the gaze of the boy that was set on him. ‘Oh, well, I… am not that special?’, he tried calmly, not very keen on talking about himself too much. A strange pout formed on the boy’s face, and he suddenly gripped onto the sleeves of Shuichi’s shirt, as he looked at him with a determination he hadn’t expected to see on him. ‘You need to get rid of that attitude someday, and I’m sure you will! You seem special, and I’m sure that with the help of the people here, you will find yourself, like I have’, Fujisaki told him with a nod to end his story with, ignoring the fact that Saihara was a little startled by his sudden confidence. 

Instead of answering to his own problem, Shuichi couldn’t help but to be curious with those last words. ‘Like you have?’, he asked, leaning against the doorframe since they were still conversing right outside of his room with the door open. Fumbling with his fingers, the brunette nodded and smiled a little, although it seemed a little nervous. ‘I’ve.. always had problems with my masculinity, I.. would suppose you understand’, he cleared his throat softly, and although Saihara felt his ears turn a little red from again the embarrassment he had linked to his own femininity, he didn’t comment on it as he wanted the boy to continue. ‘Well, I’ve just not been treated really well before I came here? But I think Lavender Kingdom is great, everyone here is very nice’, he finished with a fond smile, and the aspiring detective could sense that he was very genuine with his idea about this place. It made Saihara think a bit of himself; he wasn’t treated  _ that  _ well either in his hometown, although he didn’t hold anyone else accountable for it. Knowing that this servant’s perception of himself changed simply by being a staff member here was somewhat reassuring for Shuichi to hear. 

‘Well, that’s good to hear’, Shuichi told him to be polite, and although the boy hummed softly in appreciation, his face fell a bit and he folded his arms over his chest. ‘Oh, look at me, wasting time chatting about myself. My apologies! I was here to help you settle a bit, after all’, Chihiro sighed quietly, although he didn’t seem too upset, so that was good at least. ‘It’s fine, I enjoy getting to know you all’, Saihara reassured him with a hand on his shoulder; even though the guy had definitely grown from who he used to be, he still had a way to go, and Shuichi supposed he could resonate with that. 

Although Shuichi insisted that it was no problem that the smaller boy talked about himself and if he wanted to continue that he definitely could, Fujisaki decided that it was still a good idea to at least get started with some basic explanations about common things going on around there, and the basic knowledges that simply everyone could do with when they worked at the castle. In the meantime they were walking a certain direction, so they could get that over with as well, although the brunette didn’t really explain where they were going, since he was busy telling Saihara other things.

‘So, usually we servants wake up from the noise that you heard? It’s kind of an alarm but softer since some of us aren’t great with loud noises. Anyway, then it depends on what duties you have assigned at least for the day what you will do next: people like me who usually do laundry can immediately get breakfast before they get to work, and others that have to clean the castle itself or do other things will have to do that first, but don’t worry, when you get your task I’m sure other maids and servants will be able to tell you what to do’, Chihiro told him at first, his pace quickening a bit as he also talked a little faster, but luckily Shuichi could keep up with him just fine. Other servants also seemed to be awake, most not walking in pairs, but they weren’t looking at them any differently because the both of them were, so that was a good thing. ‘Then we also have a small break midday, but that really depends on when you finish your work, so I’m not sure if you’ll be able to have a steady lunch buddy during that period of time’, Fujisaki continued with a soft laugh as he explained. It was kind of sweet. ‘And our dinner is served after the royals ate, when they have a moment for themselves as well. Usually we eat in two separate groups so someone will be available at all times. And Kirumi likes to cook, so you don’t have to worry about that’, the brunette continued, stopping for a moment to catch his breath as he opened a door to another hall, and Shuichi hurriedly followed him. 

‘I-I’ve even got a small schedule written down for you with what I think is most likely to be your schedule for a while, unless someone decides to change the plans. Most of the time the newbies just help me at laundry, or they help the cleaning staff and things like that. I’m pretty sure you won’t even have to see the second floor yet during your first couple of weeks’. ‘There’s a second floor?’, Shuichi asked with wide eyes, although he probably should have known. Since Tojo had given him a small tour of the lowest floor already, he had the idea that one floor should have been more than enough since it was big enough already, but there was actually a second one. ‘Yup! This place is really big’, Chihiro hummed and nodded his head, understanding Saihara’s confusion and maybe even amazement with this. 

‘Anyway, if you ever need help to make a good schedule, you can always ask for me. I… learned to schedule pretty well, since a friend of mine used to plan everything in advance’, Fujisaki smiled a little as he said this, but Shuichi couldn’t help but to raise a brow. ‘That sounds like a fun way to be spending your time’, he commented somewhat sarcastically, and luckily the other servant seemed to pick up on the underlying question that was in there, and he laughed softly, although it was a bit sheepishly. ‘Oh, well, my friend was a real follow-the-rules type of guy. He was fun to be around, though, even though even as a friend he never got off schedule’, Chihiro muttered. The memory was obviously precious to him, so the bluenette would take his word for it. 

‘Which reminds me!’, the boy suddenly chirped, seeming a bit more excited than before while explaining and he turned to Shuichi as he continued walking. ‘I was told that when I’ve shown you around a bit, we could do something that  _ you’re  _ interested in instead of following some tight rulebook, since the king and queen hope that you can have at least a little fun here as well. So, is there anything in particular that piqued your interest?’, Chihiro asked, skipping as he walked, which made his pace a bit faster than before, and Saihara had more trouble keeping up with him even though his legs were gradually shorter than the blue haired male’s legs so it shouldn’t have been much of a problem. Shuichi had to think about that for a bit, since so far everything he had seen had amazed him, so he wouldn’t know what exactly to ask for. Although a conversation he had the day before played on his mind, and he hummed with a nod. ‘I think I’ve got something. Uh, a maid, Kirumi Tojo, mentioned something about a gardener yesterday, so I assume there is a garden to this castle as well. I would love to see that’, he told the smaller servant. Both because gardens were calming and could be beautiful and because he simply thought that taking care of flowers and plants was at least a little bit cute, was he interested in this. 

Chihiro clasped his hands together happily as he smiled softly at the guy, nodding excitedly. ‘Yes, there is a garden to this castle. I haven’t actually visited it in a while, but I know from the others around that it’s still just as beautiful! The gardener Tojo mentioned was probably Gonta, he’s a real sweetheart. I could introduce you to him as well!’, the boy chatted happily, swaying his arms back and forth now, before stopping himself as he reminded himself not to ramble too much and to get on with his work a bit. It wasn’t too much of a problem to Shuichi though; he quite enjoyed to see some personality in some of these servants, and he could already tell that he wouldn’t mind to become friends with the people he had met so far. At least he knew that Chihiro’s room was close to his since he had been one of the names that interested the blue haired servant, so it hopefully wouldn’t be too hard to keep a bit of a bond. It would be a nice change to the loneliness he had felt in his hometown. 

In front of yet another door, Fujisaki came to a stop as he opened it, and now Shuichi could tell what their destination had been for this walk. He was met with a fairly big dining room it seemed, although most of it was table, and there was a small kitchen part where he saw Kirumi, the maid they had just spoken of and that had given him a small tour before, and she waved at him politely, a wave which he returned, before she continued making food and placing it on plates that were set on different tables. ‘So, I am gonna show you how things get done around here, but first it’s time for breakfast’, Chihiro told the bluenette with his sweet smile, showing him to the table that held the similar plates. Shuichi’s stomach grumbled a bit at the thought already, since he hadn’t really eaten well before he came here, and he definitely was planning on catching up at least a little bit. 

There were many other tables around with as many chairs as they could fit it seemed, a plain white tablecloth covering them, and here and there there was a group of servants sitting around and eating what Tojo had made, although there were many empty spots as well. It didn’t surprise Saihara, since Chihiro had told him before about how basically everyone ate at a different time. As he saw the brunette reach to a plate so did Shuichi himself, taking the white piece of porcelain that held what he could need, the dish smelling quite nice even though it was simple enough. As well as grabbing a glass of water like Chihiro had done, they moved to a part in the back of the room where the smaller servant took a seat and prompted Shuichi to do the same. 

‘So..’, Shuichi started after having finished some of his plate in silence with the guy next to him, simply to start at least somewhat of a conversation, ‘What’s it like? Being a servant, I mean’. The brunette thought for a bit before he could answer, although luckily he didn’t seem offended by the question or anything. ‘Well, it depends. For me it’s kind of nice, since I like this place and I get to do what I like most of the time. Although it can be hard work sometimes. Some people aren’t used to having to do what others tell them to do, so they have it a lot rougher than I’, Fujisaki told him, taking a sip from his glass. ‘But you form real bonds here with people, which I didn’t really expect before I came to the castle to work as a servant. The king and queen actually care about their staff, which is nice as well. Once when I was sick, they actually let the royal nurse take care of me!’, the boy exclaimed, although his voice was still rather soft. It indeed sounded kind of nice the longer that Fujisaki was talking about his experiences as a servant at the place. 

‘Good morning’, a deeper voice that Shuichi easily recognized spoke up, as the person sat in front of them with a plate of his own. The pair hadn’t seen Rantaro enter the kitchen, but now that they noticed, Fujisaki seemed to be happy, indicating that they probably were friends, Shuichi supposed. ‘Morning, Rantaro! How’s your head?’, he asked, resting his head in his hands as the boy was done eating and watched the green haired male chuckle sheepishly. ‘Oh, it’s fine… I had a headache, is all’, the guy explained as he turned to Saihara, since he obviously didn’t know what was going on. ‘Rantaro fell down the stairs’, Chihiro chirped, although there still was a hint of worry in his eyes, and the green haired servant blushed embarrassedly as he rubbed his neck awkwardly. ‘Ah, well, it happens sometimes’, he chuckled, taking a bite of his food afterwards. Then the boy’s eyes were focussed on Saihara again. ‘Did you sleep well?’, he asked, sounding genuine enough in a way that made Shuichi feel a little light inside. He wasn’t used to the people around him really caring, except for Kiibo but he was friends with him for a fairly long time, so it was foreign yet nice to him that these people who were practically strangers could already be so friendly towards him. Realising that he needed to respond or he would seem a little weird, the bluenette cleared his throat softly. ‘Uh, yeah, I did. Thank you’. 

Chihiro seemed to be comfortable enough around Amami, actually daring to steal some of the food that had been on his plate, and luckily the both of them seemed to find it funny. It gave Shuichi time to look around the room and see the other servants happily chatting amongst each other as well, and again the warm feeling returned. He definitely wouldn’t mind being here for what may be a big part of his life if it meant he could form bonds like this as well. 

Once they were all done eating the servants cleaned up after themselves, which was thought of by Kirumi herself said Chihiro to Shuichi when he asked about it, since then there wouldn’t be someone with the extra task to clean up the servant dining place every time someone eats. ‘I think I’ve told you I usually do laundry, right?’, Chihiro asked Shuichi after them saying their goodbyes to Rantaro that had to help prince Ouma with something they supposed, and the two of them were walking through the castle again, the halls being a little more familiar to Saihara now; he could basically tell where he was by looking at what paintings were hung across the walls. ‘Yeah, you did’, the bluenette affirmed with a nod, and so Fujisaki continued with a small ‘I’ll show you to the laundry room then, and you could maybe even try to help me and the other servant’. Shuichi had already guessed that Chihiro probably wouldn’t be in there alone since there was a lot of laundry to do for the royal family and all the servants combined, so it didn’t come as a shock when they entered the obvious laundry room that he saw a new face. 

The girl was busy folding clean white sheets that probably belonged to the servant rooms, so she didn’t notice the two entering yet. Before Shuichi could talk to her however, he was gaping at the pile of fabrics that the both of them had to clean; there was a pile of sheets and things like that, and one of clothes, which was insane to him to see how much it was. There were tables with large bowls of water and what seemed like soap in them, and he just couldn’t imagine how much work that must have been. ‘You guys gotta clean all that and take it back to the owners by yourselves?’, he asked with a soft gasp, and Chihiro giggled softly with a nod. ‘Yup! I’d like to say that me and Sayaka are a pretty good team though, we’re usually done before dinner!’. The respect that Saihara already had for the servant that seemed to have struggled with a lot yet come as far as he was got even higher at that point. 

The girl, who Shuichi supposed was the Sayaka person that Chihiro spoke of, now finally did look up at them, and immediately walked to the two. She gave the servants a small bow, and Saihara returned it to be polite, although he wasn’t quite used to it yet. 

‘Hello! My name is Sayaka Maizono, I suppose you are new here?’, Sayaka asked, and Shuichi noticed that she had almost the same shade of blue hair as he did. She seemed friendly enough, so he smiled back a bit, as he nodded. ‘Yes, I’m Shuichi Saihara. Nice to meet you’, he told her as a response, which was something he was getting more used to now seeing all these new faces. ‘I’m making Saihara follow me around today, so he can learn somethings. Anything you want to learn him, miss Sayaka?’, Chihiro asked happily, and the girl laughed softly at him, before thinking with a hum. ‘Well, he can try to help me wash the clothes, those should be easy enough’, she told him, and Shuichi’s gaze met the big pile of clothes that was there.  _ I have to clean all that?  _ he thought to himself, trying to think about how much time that would take. ‘Of course you don’t have to do all of it, just help out a little!’, Maizono chirped as she continued with folding the covers she’d already washed and let dry. Shuichi blinked, his eyes widening a bit as he thought he said that out loud. ‘No no, you didn’t say anything out loud. I’m psychic’, Sayaka explained, with a soft smile, although Chihiro nudged her. ‘Don’t joke like that with the new servant, he could think you’re a witch and you know what happens then’, the brunette mumbled to her, but Saihara could still hear it. He supposed she just had a good intuition. 

It was safe to say that doing laundry wasn’t really Shuichi’s strong suit. At first he didn’t get the soap rests out of the clothes he was trying to wash, and folding really didn’t look as good and as easy as Sayaka made it seem, making him sigh and eventually groan a soft ‘This is why I’m no one’s housewife’, out loud, which luckily managed to crack Chihiro and Sayaka up a little. They didn’t get mad at him for not being as good at this as he perhaps should have been, so that was kind of nice. After some time passed, the brunette eyed the clock to see what time it was, and gasped softly, before excusing himself and Shuichi towards Maizono; there was more he would have to show the boy today, so he could better get going. 

‘...And here are the brooms and other objects for cleaning’, Chihiro told him as they stood in front of a fairly big closet in one of the halls, seeing multiple brooms and other things that could be used for cleaning in there. As Fujisaki explained, apparently the other floor also had one of those closets, so if Saihara ever had to be on the second floor he wouldn’t need to take something with him from all the way here. It still didn’t fail to amaze the bluenette how much this palace actually possessed over. ‘Not that it matters too much, since you probably won’t be going to the second floor for a while yet, but if you’re asking yourself what else this place could possibly need; there are the master bedrooms as well as some ballrooms and other luxurious places like that. It’s really pretty, honest’, Chihiro added to his speech, as he hummed and closed the door of the broom closet behind him. 

The mentioning of master bedrooms reminded Shuichi of the prince that he had met yesterday, and it made him a little curious to hear Fujisaki’s opinion on the purple haired male. ‘And uh, if you don’t mind me asking.. what is prince Ouma’s deal? He’s a little.. you know’, he gestured to get his point across, and Chihiro nodded, placing a hand on his cheek. ‘You met him already? Well, I guess it can’t be helped’, the servant spoke with a soft sigh, looking at his feet. ‘I can’t say for sure what’s up with him, but we all kind of avoid him. I’m sure you’ve heard at least some stories about witches and things like that? We’re pretty sure he is involved in things like that, but as long as our suspicions aren’t proven we will just serve him like the other royals. Still… he’s kind of strange himself as well’, Chihiro chuckled softly, although he bit his lip afterwards. His voice lowered a little bit, and he leaned more towards Saihara. ‘I know we’re not supposed to talk ill about our masters, but still… something is definitely off with him. Personality wise and perhaps even life-wise’, he finished quietly, before leaning back again and acting like he had said nothing. The servants trying to stay away from the prince Ouma seemed to be a common theme, and it made Shuichi wonder if the curiosity he felt for the male was perhaps dangerous in some way. ‘Well, you know, he likes pranks and things like that, not everyone can handle them. Like last week, he put some strange purple drink where we keep our soap for the clothes, and many of the shirts turned out purple when we were done. It was hard to deal with’, Fujisaki sighed softly, although it seemed like he wanted to say that Kokichi himself simply was hard to deal with sometimes. 

‘Anyway, enough about that’, Chihiro changed the subject, and Saihara decided not to bother him about it anymore, since it seemed like he wasn’t really comfortable with the subject of Kokichi Ouma. ‘You wanted to see the garden, right? Well, follow me!’, the brunette servant said cheerily, grabbing onto Saihara’s sleeve as he pulled him further, and the guy happily followed as well. For some reason the way the servants around him were acting felt comfortable and overall nice, and it made him think back about how resistant he was to this just two days ago. If he had known that this kingdom apparently was full of gentle and caring people, he would’ve followed his uncle to the place years ago, and here he was. Walking through halls that he tried to memorize again by the paintings that were hung up, he was brought to a somewhat larger door, which he supposed lead to the back of the castle where the garden was supposed to be. As Chihiro opened the door somewhat excitedly, Shuichi stopped walking immediately and watched the view with wide eyes. Now he understood why Fujisaki had been excited to show him this. 

To say the garden was beautiful would be an understatement. So far he couldn’t even see the full place yet, since there was just a path leading to different parts of the garden, but above there as if they were forming some sort of hall were plants being held up there by subtle pergolas that were in a round shape at the top, and there were some lights hanging from them as well, making the place seem cozy. Different colors of flowers, mostly a blue-ish tone, made Shuichi smile a bit. The path was made of small pebbles, and was easy to walk on as the both continued their walk, but now a bit slower as Shuichi was taking in the sight. 

As the pergolas stopped they were in a more open part of the garden, which had different perks of flowers and bushes, the grass neatly mowed and well kept it seemed, the faint smell of flowers very pleasant. Roses and again many other types of flowers were visible, although Shuichi couldn’t see any lavender type of plant, which felt a little strange since it was Lavender Kingdom after all. He figured however that the lavender flowers wouldn’t be great in color here either; the other flowers already seemed a bit faint, but they definitely weren’t as dull as the lavender flowers he had seen before outside of the castle were.

As Shuichi looked around, again being amazed by how beautiful this place actually was, he noticed a bulge of green moving from behind a large plant, making him curious. He carefully made his way towards it, avoiding a bench made of soft wood that also piqued his interest a bit, to see what was happening there, and his heart stopped for a moment as he suddenly saw two eyes looking back at him, although they were definitely far above his. A man, 6’6 in total making Saihara cower back a little, was staring right at him, garden pruner in hand. His green hair, darker than Amami’s had been, was slightly unruly and pretty long, and… he was wearing a pastel colored apron, which felt weirdly strange seeing that the male seemed so intimidating before. As well as round, sweet glasses on his face, and a strange expression. 

As the shock slowly left Shuichi’s body after standing and having a stare off with this stranger for a moment, Chihiro also appeared behind him, and greeted the guy happily, which he returned with a far gentler voice than Saihara had expected of him. ‘You alright?’, Fujisaki asked, placing a hand on Shuichi’s shoulder, and the male nodded with an embarrassed chuckle. ‘A-ah, yeah, I’m fine. Just.. a little startled, is all’. 

Now the large man turned towards him again, setting down the garden pruner carefully, and holding his hands out as if to show him there was no danger. ‘Gonta very sorry! Gonta surprised as well to see a new face, very sorry for bad manners, it is not gentleman like’, the guy rambled a bit as he shook his head and seemed disappointed in himself. ‘Ah, no, uh, it’s fine, I understand’, Shuichi said quickly, not wanting to hurt his feelings, and he put on a small smile, although he wasn’t sure who the guy was speaking of ‘My name is Shuichi Saihara, I’m a new servant here, nice to meet you’. ‘Gonta’s name is Gonta Gokuhara, very nice to meet you too, mister Saihara! Gonta hopes we will be friends’, he said, with a smile that was too precious to say no to, if Shuichi had to be honest. The intimidation he had felt before from the guy was completely gone as he saw the tall man start to take care of the large bushes of flowers again, as gentle and precise as ever. It dawned on him that this was the gardener that Tojo and Fujisaki had spoken of, and according to them the man was very sweet, if not a little… less intelligent. ‘Saihara wanted to see your garden’, Chihiro spoke up, folding his arms over his chest in a more relaxed way as he looked up at the man, and the height difference was kind of funny. ‘Oh! Of course, Gonta can show mister Saihara around?’, he offered, and the way his eyes lit up at this made the bluenette involuntarily let out a soft laugh. ‘Of course, that would be nice’, he told the green haired gardener, that immediately started off with his tour.

Through another door that as well led to the garden ran a purple haired boy hurriedly, pulling the poor green haired servant that had to deal with him behind him as they rushed over the different pathways of the aesthetically pleasing royal garden. ‘Why did I have to go with you?’, Rantaro Amami mumbled with a tired sigh as he had to move his feet swiftly not to fall; although prince Ouma had rather small legs, he could still run very fast. It was almost unfair, really. 

‘Stop complaining, shut your big mouth Ranran, that’s my job’, Kokichi muttered as he pulled him to sit behind a bush that sported pink roses, and he carefully looked around the side as he watched the group of two servants and the gardener talk about the different types of plants that Gokuhara was handling, as well as the types of bugs he would find there. A small grin made its way on Kokichi’s lips as he saw Shuichi flinch back a little bit but laugh awkwardly to be polite as Gonta tried to hand him over one of the bugs, and he snickered quietly as he watched him with interest. 

‘My lord, may I remind you that you have a full schedule for today, and you should be training by now?’, Amami spoke up as he nudged his shoulder, but with irritation Ouma pushed his hand away. ‘Blah blah, she can go screw herself on her stupid lance with those horrendous armors she makes me wear. This is much more interesting’, Kokichi grumbled, seeing Shuichi lean towards a red flower, as he carefully inspected its petals when Gonta was talking about them, and the soft smile that was on the bluenette’s face also formed on Ouma’s own. ‘But my lord-’, Amami started, hearing the smaller purple haired royal next to him groan as he glared at him. ‘What do you want, kinky bastard?’, he asked grumpily, seeing Amami visibly getting a little uncomfortable, and it made him smirk a bit. ‘I-, well, I just think that perhaps you shouldn’t creep on someone you have just met’, the green haired servant pointed out carefully. 

‘It’s my castle, I can do what I want’, Ouma responded without a second thought as he again focussed on the sight of the three boys walking through the garden. Now Rantaro was silent, he could hear their conversation, as well as the sweet voice that the boy had; Kokichi couldn’t remember that he was ever really intrigued by anyone, but Saihara just seemed different somehow. Although he definitely was the submissive type, a follower instead of a leader, he still had somewhat of his own opinions, and seemed to keep his own self even if he had to adapt to a situation. The pretty face and the intelligence that he could see in his eyes intrigued Ouma. ‘Cute’, he muttered softly, catching Rantaro that was watching him deep in thought a little off guard, and he frowned. He surely didn’t see Kokichi as the type to ever think good of anyone else than himself, but here he was, genuinely smiling as he watched the blue haired servant interact with the sweetheart that was Gonta Gokuhara. 

As a small blush formed on the cheeks of the prince, very faintly but still somewhat similar, Rantaro noticed how the scent of the flowers around him got stronger, and how the petals opened a little more, the color of them brighter now. With a knowing glance he watched Kokichi lean more forward to be able to see what was going on a bit better. 

Amami took a careful step back away from Ouma, cautious of the purple haired prince, definitely when things like these would happen. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ((Hi, random note, I have a discord now, so if you want to communicate or chat about danganronpa or heck I'll even be down to do a saiouma/oumasai rp if you can explain to me how it works lol, just add me on there! Do keep in mind that mentioning my chemical romance (the band) makes me uncomfortable for personal reasons and that I definitely do not want to see things like imegary of s*lfharm or things like that.   
> My discord is ySoda <3 #8512 at the moment. So if you wanna chat, about danganronpa or about writing or just simply want to have a friend, or if you want to make my shuichi kinnie ( e w >;( ) self happy add me on there and I guess I will talk to you or hopefully see you in a next chapter! ))


	5. Admire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Oh? Saihara-chan is afraid for some scandal to come out?’, the purple haired prince nudged him in the side, and said boy huffed in both annoyance and embarrassment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> yee yee peko makes an entrance and things like that.   
> This chapter is actually kinda cute I guess. It's not that long but I think that's fine?
> 
> Warning: mature jokes (ouma is a little bitch) and swears and stuff 
> 
> As always I'm too lazy (and tired) to reread, sorry for grammar mistakes and mistakes in general yada yada

Some time had already passed since Shuichi first arrived at the castle and had his “ _ introduction _ ” day so to say, and he was slowly learning and understanding more of what exactly was expected of him and simply how things were done around there. The schedule that servant Chihiro had given him seemed to be indeed the type of schedule he would have to follow every day, and he honestly didn’t mind all too much. He liked slowly feeling more familiar with the place and the people who lived in that place as well, as well as having an enough amount of variety in tasks every day so he wouldn’t become too bored of everything being planned for him neatly and going smoothly. He had already found that laundry wasn’t exactly his thing, although once or twice he had still tried to help Sayaka and Chihiro there, which ended up in becoming fun days with nice chats with the two even though Shuichi would have a hard time keeping up with them. Just cleaning the places when there were no other servants bothering him was quite nice as well, he eventually found out; although he liked being around people from time to time, the male still needed his time to think for himself. For example about the whole deal with Kokichi Ouma, the prince in the castle. 

It was rather obvious from the get-go that all the servants seemed to try and distance themselves from the heir to the throne, almost getting arguments over things like who would need to clean up the hall that belonged to him and things like that. At first it seemed like the sole reason for the servants and maids disliking for the purple haired guy was the fact that he was an unpredictable trickster that most of the time enjoyed making life harder on others by giving them more work just for the heck of it, and they probably would be right to dislike him for that reason alone, but Saihara already got the strange feeling that maybe a bit more was going on than people were letting on. Call it his “detective” intuition, if you will, but he was very much interested in trying to figure out the real reason behind the distancing from the prince that everyone in the castle, at moments even the king and queen, seemed to be doing. 

The small investigation started by just asking around by servants, which also made him able to hear some of their names, something that would probably come in handy if he ever needed their help. Some guy that somehow seemed to have a rather sympathetic character, his name was Momota if Saihara remembered correctly, was a little more willing to talk than those around him. He apparently had a friend that usually went with whenever the men of the town had to go out and fight for their peace in the city, in disguise as always since she was a female and therefore people would probably feel strange to know that there was a woman on the battlefield. Anyway, Momota wasn’t really able to keep quiet like the rest of the staff had done, and he continued on and on about how his friend and he himself didn’t trust the prince for a single bit ever since the subject of a witch came up. It again was the story with the witch, of course it would be. But why was it that if these servants were so concerned with that fact, they were scared of prince Ouma of all people, and not the king and queen that had welcomed the witch (according to his uncle’s story, he wouldn’t be able to be one hundred percent sure that this part was true), or even just the witch herself? It didn’t really make sense. 

Taking more tasks that were near the hall that Kokichi had re-decorated many times upon Shuichi's arrival, mostly while breaking stuff and painting over the paintings that were already renewed once or twice a week it seemed, hadn’t given him much info either. Sure, it made him get to face the purple haired prince more than usual, which usually greeted him happily before pulling some kind of trick that would give Shuichi a little more work to do, but for some reason Saihara couldn’t really always bring it up to care when the wicked grin would set on the boy’s face and he sometimes even offered to help out a hand, something that the bluenette supposed a royal almost never would. Although he was difficult like everyone said he was, he was a bit unpredictable and he seemed hard to deal with overall, Shuichi still felt a little glad every good morning and good evening he would hear from him. 

At the moment he was kneeled over whilst trying to clean up small broken pleases of a vase that the guy he had just been thinking about had apparently accidentally knocked over, together with the flower that was in it and the dirt that traveled to all across the floor, giving Shuichi a hard time having to deal with it all, but he was getting a little more used to it. Recognizing the halls and rooms by paintings was easy when in the part that was still under complete protection from harm of the king and queen, since they didn’t actually change any painting for another, so he had quite the map in his mind already for the places he knew and frequented so far. But this place, that was also seeming to gain blue spots in certain halls that he almost never visited but what caught his eye anyway, it changed almost every other day, and Shuichi almost had to rely on instinct to know where he was going and where he was currently standing. It was kind of a challenge, and if Saihara had to be honest, perhaps that made coming here a little more exciting. He wasn’t one to do very daring things, but the small silly challenges that he gave himself made the male usually feel pleased enough if he overcame them. 

Shuichi smiled a little to himself, deep in thought as he took the small pieces of hardened clay which he supposed was the main material used for the vase, placing it in a small bag that he would have to carry to where they kept their rubbish and things that weren’t needed anymore. For some reason the aspiring detective felt as if perhaps Ouma made the challenge a little harder on him by changing around things more often, since in the first week it was a lot easier to get used to this side of the castle. It would be something befitting of the male he supposed, and for some reason it didn’t exactly make him feel as annoyed as he would have, perhaps just slightly irritated. It was kind of nice not to be the complete outcast in the space where he was living, but that someone else had gladly taken that role from him. 

As Saihara was still buried in his mind by different types of thoughts while he was busy cleaning the carpet and ridding it of the sharp shards that the vase had left behind, he absentmindedly started to hum quietly to himself. It was a song he didn’t exactly recognize, but it didn’t matter too much either. The moment he felt alone, he felt more secure than he ever had when he used to live in a town where everyone despised him, and although he had to say he kind of missed his one and only friend Kiibo from that place, he was rather content here already, so things were good. Yeah, things were nice. 

Suddenly though, it was as if Shuichi’s hand slipped a bit, and his skin scraped across the sharp surface of a piece he was holding, making a cut and drawing blood in his finger. The blue haired servant hissed quietly from the pain as he pulled a face, placing the finger to his lips and trying to stop the bleeding, even if it wasn’t that big of a wound. The moment he did so though, he regretted his actions when he heard a mocking laugh behind him, which made him turn his head to where the sound was coming from, although he of course already knew the culprit; who wouldn’t, with the signature laugh that everyone had grown accustomed to coming from him. 

His face reddening a bit, Shuichi put his hand behind his back and got from his knees to stand up on the floor, as he made a small bow to the male. ‘Prince Ouma’, he muttered as a greeting, face reddening a little more in embarrassment as the male didn’t hide the amused grin that was on his face. ‘Wow, Saihara-chan! How’d you manage to do that?’, Kokichi asked him teasingly as he hopped closer to the male that stepped back a bit. Shuichi hadn’t even noticed that Ouma had entered the hall where he was cleaning, so he couldn’t say he wasn’t startled by the smaller male. Usually the boy made a loud entrance, which alarmed every single one in the castle of his presence, but apparently he could be stealthy when he had to be. It was a note that Saihara mentally added to the notebook he still used ever since coming here; however, since there weren’t really any mysteries for him to solve here, he mostly wrote about the mystery surrounding Kokichi Ouma in it. 

‘Ah, my hand just… slipped’, Shuichi answered the prince sheepishly as he took his hand from behind his back, noticing the small red drops that were trailing down his finger. Still, he noticed that the stance Ouma had taken faltered a little bit when seeing the actual injury, even though it was small, before his expression turned into an annoyed one that the bluenette could only suppose was faked. ‘Great job dumbass, now you have to clean even  _ more _ ’, the smaller guy complained, folding his arms together and basically glaring at Saihara, who gulped softly upon seeing the angry look, even though logically he knew that he probably was just playing around again. ‘I’m sorry’, the servant muttered, biting his lip and glancing down at the wounded hand, although it only made Kokichi emit a strange sounding groan before he grabbed onto the sleeve of Shuichi’s shirt, startling the male a bit. ‘Come with me, I’m not gonna let you bleed all over my floor’, he snarled as he started to pull Shuichi with behind him. Again, logically Shuichi knew that the cut was far too small to actually “ _ bleed all over his floor” _ as Ouma had put it, but he still followed the purple haired trickster without too many complaints. 

The grip that Kokichi had on his shirt didn’t loosen one bit as he was pulled through the different halls that he gradually memorised the way they were going less and less. Meanwhile the annoyed facade that Ouma had put on had been replaced by a more content look on his face as he excitedly chatted about his day, something that Saihara didn’t fully focus on since he could be sure that at least half of what the purple haired prince was saying would be a lie of some sort. He had heard that when Chihiro got sick, he got brought to the royal nurse and treated just fine, so Shuichi didn’t worry too much about himself, and supposed that was where they were gonna go. 

When they reached a set of stairs is when Saihara got a little more curious, since he hadn’t actually been to the second floor of the place yet. They passed some familiar faces of servants that immediately got out of their way as they walked when Ouma scolded them, as they looked at Shuichi curious to why he was being dragged with, and the bluenette could only glance back at them embarrassedly. It was one thing to have Kokichi pull him around like this, but it was worse that now people had actually seen it happen. Instead of continuing on his little chats with people the prince now just looked a little grumpy when telling them to get out of his way, and most of the servants were at least a bit startled that Ouma was up there when he usually wasn’t around this time. Instead of questioning his morals and what exactly was going on, the servant tried his best to take in the sights he could see from open doors; he caught a glimpse of one of those ballrooms that Chihiro had told him about the first day he worked here, and he couldn’t say it was disappointing. As far as he could tell by the golden and silver colors that twinkled under grand chandeliers, one of those parties Lady Ouma was known for holding would be quite the spectacle to attend to. 

As the prince’s swift footsteps came to a halt and suddenly Saihara was pulled into a room, he was quite surprised when instead of being met with some type of hospital-like room, he was standing inside of a big and strangely colorful bedroom. ‘...What are we doing here?’, Shuichi asked, perhaps a bit rude, but the prince didn’t pay any mind to it as he closed the door behind him. ‘Treating the wound you made when you were being a dumbass, sit down’, he gestured to the king size bed as he moved to a cupboard in his room and got out what looked like a first aid kit. ‘W-wait, why are we doing that  _ here _ ?’, the bluenette’s voice got a little bit higher as he eyed the royal suspiciously and maybe even a little on guard, to which Ouma raised a brow. ‘Well, because if you turn up dead here, I’ll be the least suspicious of course!’, he said somewhat sarcastically as he rolled his eyes at the male, as if the question couldn’t have been much more stupid. 

The purple haired trickster rummaged through the box he was holding, and smiled almost cutely when he found the bandage he was looking for, as he jumped on the bed, which send a shock to Shuichi that almost fell off his side, again cracking the prince up a bit. Saihara wasn’t really laughing though; he was very tense for whatever reason, and it made Kokichi frown a little. There was nothing more annoying than a tough crowd, he supposed. 

Ouma crawled and swung his legs off the bed so he was sitting next to Shuichi, and without a warning grabbed onto the blue haired servant’s injured hand, as the guy yelped and afterwards hid his face since the sound had embarrassed him. Kokichi snorted. ‘Jeez you’re jumpy Saihara’, he complained, pulling the limb closer to himself as he inspected the small injury and took the bandaid, poking out a tongue as he concentrated on getting it around there neatly. Shuichi gulped quietly, and shrugged a bit. ‘I-I mean, you do realise that other servants saw you... pull me into your room, right?’, the male muttered softly, avoiding the interested gaze of Kokichi. ‘Oh? Saihara-chan is afraid for some scandal to come out?’, the purple haired prince nudged him in the side, and said boy huffed in both annoyance and embarrassment. 

As he realised he could pull another nasty joke on the male the grin that was already on his face only grew, and Shuichi caught onto this, his eyes widening in worry; he could only guess what was on his mind. ‘Ouma, don’t you dare-’, he started with a worried quiver in his voice, but it was too late. ‘Ah~!  _ Saihara-chan _ ! You’re so good!~’, Kokichi was moaning obnoxiously loud as Shuichi yelped and tried to cover his mouth, but the smaller boy was fast and jumped up before Saihara could reach him, off the bed and to the left side of his room. ‘Stop it’, the servant snarled at him with a redness to his face that only egged the liar on. ‘ _ Uuuunnghhh~ _ !’, Ouma whined with the biggest grin he could muster, successfully avoiding a pillow that Saihara suddenly threw at him. ‘Oooh, Saihara-chan is getting ballsy!’, the prince snickered at his expense, seeing the servant’s irritated and awkward look. 

‘ _ Ughh, Shumaaaaiii! _ ~’, Kokichi experimentally cried out with a very dramatic expression, and there was silence for a moment, until he heard strange noises coming from Shuichi, making him focus on the male again. ‘Huh? You good? having a stroke now?’, he asked, the hint of worry he was feeling not apparent in his voice as he made his way to the bluenette that by now was laying back on his bed. He saw his chest moving bubbly, and soon enough Kokichi realised the boy was laughing. ‘What’s so funny?’, Ouma asked, although he couldn’t help the small smirk that set on his lips as he watched Saihara giggle; he didn’t hear him laugh like that often, and it was kind of endearing, really. ‘Sh-shumai?’, the blue haired servant gasped for breath as he couldn’t help the giggles from escaping him, ‘ _ r-really _ ?’. 

Soon enough Kokichi himself was also cracking up from the stupid nickname and the sound of Shuichi’s laugh, his whole trying-to-annoy-and-embarrass-Saihara act forgotten by now. 

Once the both of them managed to calm down a bit from the strange experience, Shuichi was eyeing the now bandaged finger curiously. ‘Huh. I never thought a prince would know first aid things’, the male mumbled to himself, but of course Ouma had to hear. ‘Duh. How else am I supposed to safe my sorry ass when my parents decide to send me out there again’, Ouma rolled his eyes, folding his arms over his chest. Shuichi turned to him, strangely enough not feeling awkward although they were both laying down on the bed, although shuichi’s legs were dangling from the right side and kokichi’s from the left. ‘You’re parents do what?’, he asked, still curious to know more about the prince. ‘That was a lie, nishishi! I’m actually stuck in here for the rest of my life, if I even go outside of the castle the guards are allowed to shoot me’, Ouma chirped happily as he sighed and cupped his neck with his hands as he kept his gaze on the ceiling. ‘What?!’, Shuichi shrieked softly as he sat up a bit and rested on his elbows as he looked down at the purple haired prince. The boy only eyed him, but didn’t actually make an effort to sit up as well or to turn his head. ‘Of course they send me out there sometimes, duh. I have to get fresh city air somehow. Even though I suppose the air isn’t that fresh’, the guy snickered after saying so, sighing quietly. 

‘They send you to battles and things like that?’, Saihara asked, a little less fueled by worry now and more fueled by his own interest in getting to know this castle and the royals in it. ‘We don’t really do battles’, the prince answered a bit vaguely, getting a little more uncomfortable the longer this situation was going on it seemed; he looked like he loved to talk about himself, but apparently this was a less speakable subject. ‘Which reminds me!’, he snapped suddenly, sitting up swiftly and almost knocking heads with Shuichi that as well almost fell off the bed again being startled by the trickster. ‘Kirumi and Rantaro totally ditched me today, which mean you are the only option left to help me, sorry not sorry!’, he quipped happily as he pointed towards a different closet that was in his room, and Shuichi frowned a little. ‘Help you with what?’, he asked, before it finally dawned on him that it was the prince he was talking to, and his eyes widened as he gulped softly. For some reason the way that Kokichi would act made him forget his title, and that may be a dangerous thing. ‘U-uh, I mean, of course, what do I need to help you with, prince Ouma?’, he altered the sentence that he used first. 

‘With putting on my armor, of course, silly Shumai’, the guy rolled his eyes, and Saihara stopped himself from complaining about the newfound nickname that Kokichi was using for him. ‘What if I do it wrong?’, Shuichi asked a little nervously as he moved to the closet that Ouma was pointing towards, and taking out the shirt of chain mail that he saw in there, which the prince decided was enough; Kokichi actually found that the full armour looked a little ridiculous on him since he was small, so the shirt would be enough protection. ‘Well, then I’ll die, and it’ll be all your fault!’, Ouma encouraged him in his own way as he held his arms up for Shuichi to help him put on the somewhat heavy shirt. After Shuichi got him to get rid of his expensive coat and stay in normal pants and a shirt instead, the chain mail shirt was pulled over his light colored shirt, and it reached til about mid-thigh. 

‘Here’, Shuichi mumbled as Kokichi was looking at himself in the morning, and carefully put his hair in a ponytail behind him, being quite surprised by how soft the strands were, but deciding not to worry about it too much. As Shuichi’s eyes found the mirror and he was now watching the reflection of both of them, Kokichi in a minimum amount of armor with his hair pulled back and Saihara with the normal servant outfit that didn’t bother him at all, he couldn’t help but to fall silent for a moment. For some reason, seeing this just felt like something he always knew would be coming, and it was a strange experience. Saihara liked to believe that fate didn’t necessarily exist so he could become anyone he would want to be in the end, but at times like these, he was convinced that perhaps there was a bit of fate to pull the strings when it wanted to. The moment that both of them were just silently looking into the mirror as if it was a story that both of them already knew was strangely intimate. It wasn’t that strange to Shuichi that the purple haired prince would want to step away from it soon, either. 

‘Anyway!’, Kokichi hopped away from where he was standing and looked up at Shuichi. ‘I’m gonna have to go fight’, he told him, placing his hands at his hips in a somewhat cocky manner, and Saihara suppressed a bit of laughter. He never knew what it was with males and fighting that made them feel superior, but he himself had never felt something like that. It was kind of funny to him. ‘Oh, cool’, he responded somewhat sarcastically, and although the prince definitely caught on to his tone, he still smirked proudly. ‘Yeah, it’s like a training. Kind of boring though’, the prince continued, pulling on the chains of iron that were on the shirt, and slowly rocking on his heels. He almost seemed nervous, which was a little strange for him as far as Saihara could tell. 

In the meantime something that Shuichi couldn’t know, was that Ouma was internally kind of freaking out. He was nervous, actually, more nervous than he let on, because he too had felt that strange type of  _ right  _ when he had looked into the mirror with Shuichi by his side, and it felt strange to think that he would accept his fate when so far all he had done was trying to screw with fate and its ways. And the thing was, whenever he got nervous, he got a little reckless. Impulsive, if you will. Oftentimes he would say things that he didn’t actually want to say whenever he was a little worked up, whether it was to push someone away or just to kind of play himself in a way, it usually didn’t end that well. Still, he couldn’t help but to open his mouth anyway. ‘You wanna come with to watch?’, he asked, putting his hands behind his back and pinching his own skin there, irritated by himself and his ways. He didn’t actually want Shuichi to say yes to that. 

The thing was, Kokichi Ouma wasn’t that good at fighting. Sure, he could run, he was stealthy, and stealing things definitely wasn’t that big of a deal, but for some reason holding a sword and trying not to die by the hands of someone else was something he was just not gifted the skills with. Ever since he could walk properly, which was when he was like six years old since he managed to convince his parents that he couldn’t up until he was six simply so they would carry him anywhere he wanted them to (he was a little trickster right from the start, he supposed), he was taught how to wield a weapon, yet it was kind of hopeless. He got a little better at not getting stabbed right away of course, but that was about it. He could hold up just long enough to perhaps tire someone out a little so he could make a run for it to safety, and it honestly made him feel a little pathetic. Usually the purple haired prince was sure enough of himself, but fighting was something that made him embarrass himself, and therefore he hated his parents for making him take those stupid lessons so much. 

Shuichi scratched his neck awkwardly as he looked at him. ‘I uh, of course, but what about my work?’, he asked. It should have been the perfect way out for Ouma, and he screamed in his mind  _ come on just tell the fucker ahh too bad go away,  _ but instead he forced a smirk to form on his face. ‘That’s fine, since I’m your lord and all, you can just come with me’. And so he had done it. Shuichi agreed to come see his fight-training. Sometimes Kokichi really hated how his way of thinking and acting worked. 

It seemed that the place Kokichi was going to have to train his sword fighting was somewhere within the garden, Saihara guessed, since that was where they were heading. Indeed he had seen a strangely open spot before that he wasn’t sure what it was used for, together with some sort of bench that was nearby there. So it wasn’t exactly a surprise when they were walking that way, greeting Gonta the gardener on their way as well who excitedly greeted them back and showed them a new type of butterfly that lived in the garden, before realising they had somewhere to be and leaving them alone. If Ouma had to be honest, he didn’t mind the delay one bit, partially because Gokuhara was kind of precious in a way that even the liar and trickster that the prince was would have to admit that, but as well as that he still wasn’t that keen on having to show his lack of skill in front of Shuichi. 

Still, the pair said their goodbyes to Gonta and walked to the open spot. The blue haired servant soon noticed a woman standing there, her tied in two braids to the sides of her head basically, wearing something that was supposed to be some sort of armor, but more fit for the female species he supposed. The strange thing is that her eyes were a little red, and maybe it should have been concerning, as well as the sharp gaze she had on Kokichi, although the sole fact that she reminded the male a bit of Kirumi Tojo Saihara could calm down enough. ‘My lord’, the woman spoke, her voice somewhat deep and not really holding any emotion but tenseness so far. ‘You are late’, she finished of, a raised brow at the smaller guy that laughed awkwardly at her. ‘Aww, come on now Peko, ya love me, right?’, he joked at her, but she didn’t move an inch as she still watched him. ‘Grab your sword’, she responded, and gestured for Shuichi to sit to the side on the bench, which he did without complaints since this woman looked like she could snap his neck if she wanted to. 

He vaguely heard Ouma say something about bringing him drinks if he asked to, but Shuichi didn’t pay too much mind to it as he sat down and watched the pair startup with some exercises simply to get started. It wasn’t that Kokichi was unfit; everything was going pretty easily so far, but he still seemed a little fidgety, as well as bored by these exercises that were far too dull for someone like him. Of course the prince got berated by this ‘Peko’ when he started to slack off a little, and it made Saihara snicker softly because of his complaints to the lady. 

Now it was time for the real fight to go down, and Shuichi had to say, he was kind of excited. He had heard Kokichi brag about his skills in fighting before during small conversations in the halls whenever he was working there, so he supposed that either the guy was actually quite good at it, or he had been bluffing completely and would make a big fool out of himself. It didn’t take long for Shuichi to realise that the second option was closest to the truth. 

The prince was swinging his lance-like sword experimentally, reminding himself not to aim near the head although Pekoyama was skilled enough to dodge him anyway if he tried, and stabbed forward, while doing so he basically lost his balance when the sword was a little heavy and almost fell forward, having to hold himself up by steading his feet. This gave Peko enough time to as well dart forward, and to teasingly poke the sword against his flesh. ‘One point for Pekoyama, zero for Ouma’, she said calmly, hearing the scoff that left Kokichi’s lips as he contemplated on whether or not to throw a tantrum, and it made her chuckle quietly. Although it was perhaps against the rules to start without a warning, Kokichi grabbed his sword again and took a swing at her. ‘Predictable’, the woman just told him as she stepped to the side, and once again pricked with the sword against the part of his body that was covered in armor so it wouldn’t be deadly. ‘Did you forget what I taught you last time?’, Peko grumbled, and Kokichi pouted. ‘Always mind your defense, I know, I know, but come on, that was a good try!’. 

This is basically how the rest of the training continued; Ouma was losing to the woman big time and in the most ungraceful ways as well. As he actually landed on his behind when slipping over the grass when he dodged a swing of a sword, Shuichi accidentally let out a giggle that was loud enough for them to hear. Pekoyama tried to hide the amused look that was on her face as well, and Kokichi just pouted. ‘Now you’re both conspiring against me! Boo!’, he called out indignantly, blowing a raspberry at the servant as he noticed the amused expression on his face that matched Peko’s. Now that Shuichi was actually used to seeing him lose the whole time, for some reason Ouma became less frustrated with this. He didn’t exactly act like he minded too much; sure, he thought it was funny, but the prince liked being funny, so that wasn’t that big of a deal. 

During Kokichi’s so called break, or at leats that was what Peko called in when the boy had been brought to the ground multiple times, he jogged up to where Shuichi was sitting, panting softly. ‘So, how was I?’, he asked with a smile, striking a small pose and seeing Saihara chuckle softly. ‘Well, I admire your stamina’, the servant answered to him, which had his facade falter for a moment and his face turned blank. Shuichi’s eyes widened and he quickly apologised, ‘I’m sorry, did I say something wrong?’, the bluenette asked. Kokichi blinked, realising he still had to answer, and he cupped his neck with his hands effortlessly as he leaned back a bit without losing his balance. ‘Nah! ‘M fine, don’t worry so much, Saihara-chan!’, he exclaimed, grabbing onto the males arm and pulling him further. ‘Now let’s go ditch this place and get me some tea’, the prince continued, hearing Shuichi’s soft sigh. ‘You don’t like tea…’, the servant muttered calmly as he followed Kokichi inside, knowing that the boy probably just searched for an excuse not to have to train any longer. ‘Exactly’, was the short response that Ouma gave him with a grin. 

From the inside though, the prince was feeling a little weird.  _ I admire your stamina.  _ Shuichi Saihara had been able to say so many things about his fighting, making a joke about him after seeing how he utterly failed, and yet the boy had given him a compliment. He had seen bits and pieces of Shuichi so far, and with that alone he could tell that the guy wasn’t exactly a positive spirit, more of a pessimistic person actually, so he had definitely not seen that coming. The comment had caught him off guard in the best way, something he wasn’t used to; getting in arguments and making childish comments on whatever cirticism he recieved was his strong suit. He didn’t fully understand what made Saihara different, but things like these made him just a little different from the people he already knew, and deep down he knew this, although he chose to ignore it for now so he could just ignore the servant a little bit more today. 


	6. Tsumugi Shirogane

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Well, even nice people do awful things when they’re scared’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Sorry if this is really bad, I kind of feel bad about my writing right now? I know there's a lot going on in this chapter, again, sorry.  
> Also small timeskip, just be aware of that. Like it was as well in the last chapter but there I showed the fact that there was a time skip a bit better. 
> 
> warning: some mature jokes again, also a little bit gore and mentioning of burning
> 
> Didn't re-read I'm lazy we been knew I hope you don't hate my writing in this as much as I do lol.

Kokichi Ouma kicked his legs almost childishly as he held himself upright by leaning on the hold he had on his bed, sitting up and looking at the blue haired servant that was polishing his shoes after he had asked him to do so, even though they were clean enough to begin with, but it wasn’t like the purple haired prince really cared all that much. And neither did Shuichi Saihara, the poor soul that had to do these stupid little things all day, which he perhaps kind of enjoyed at times as well. ‘Alright Saihara, that’s enough’, the prince hummed, gesturing for him to come over. Shuichi got up from his knees, dusting the pants he was wearing off a little although the floor itself had been clean enough. ‘Help me with my tie?’, he asked innocently, seeing the blue haired male silently roll his eyes, since he knew that the guy was perfectly capable of doing things like that himself. 

Ever since Shuichi had watched Ouma during his train-fighting, which wasn’t that long a time ago, the male kept asking Shuichi specifically over for different types of tasks each time, multiple times a day. Eventually things escalated in a way that made Saihara feel like he technically was an assigned servant to the prince now, since he wouldn’t get orders from the others to help them anymore before he would get one of Ouma’s, and it had been almost every day the past week that he decided just to immediately go up to the prince’s room since it would be a matter of time anyway for him to be called over there. At first Kokichi had been a little surprised, but for some reason he didn’t really mind the initiative, and basically went with the flow; even if he didn’t really need Shuichi, he would still manage to make him do something somehow. 

Of course the other servants had noticed the strange bonding that was going on between Saihara and prince Ouma, how could they not when they all lived so close to each other? Most of them didn’t really comment on it, since it wasn’t their business, and personal things stayed personal. Shuichi had to say that he was very glad for those people. Because a couple of servants kept giving him nasty glares wherever he went in the castle, which is something that reminded him of life back when he lived in the city where everyone hated him. Kokichi just wasn’t everyone’s favorite, and Shuichi realised this, but he didn’t think that other servants would dislike him for being on somewhat good terms with the prince; if it really were good terms was questionable, since the guy messed with him just as much as with anyone else. 

Others had once or twice tried to express their concern for Saihara when he was tasked something almost impossible again, and scolded in a dramatic way when he didn’t get it in time. Shuichi had kind of grown used to it though, and he noticed how Kokichi kind of learned through the time they spent together; at first he would raise his voice during his act of being dramatic, but he probably saw that this made Saihara very uncomfortable, and stopped doing that. Sure, he searched for the limits to try and step on them, but he didn’t seem to want to actually cross boundaries and make people uncomfortable in the most terrible way. He was a trickster, a liar, maybe even an asshole, but he wasn’t a monster. Not everyone seemed to understand this, and that was fine. Saihara just recently came to that conclusion as well. 

Chihiro himself had only really teased him for this friendship during breakfast when they would be sitting together, occasionally joined by Rantaro and sometimes even Sayaka. Since the… incident where Kokichi had raised his voice to pretend that Shuichi and he were in a scandalous situation, some servants had been expecting the worst, and were mostly suspicious of the blue haired servant. He had explained to Fujisaki that nothing really happened and Ouma was just being the little clown he was, and eventually the male believed him, but it still didn’t stop him from joking around so now and then. It didn’t really bother Shuichi when he did so; there was something about Chihiro that made him unable to dislike the guy. 

Kokichi had the mischievous glint in his eyes he usually had before he would pull some type of trick, which was something that the aspiring detective had also taken note of, and now he was a little on guard as he grabbed onto the tie that was the prince’s favorite; checkered and playful. Still, delicately Shuichi managed to tie it for him, tightening it a little but not enough to cause any trouble. Of course, he should have known that as soon as he had reached out a second hand it was basically free game for Ouma, but unfortunately for the bluenette, he didn’t think too much about this. In less than a second of time Kokichi’s hands were on his wrists, as he pulled them backwards; the way that Shuichi was standing, a little hunched over because the prince was sitting on his bed and Saihara was standing up, wasn’t great for his balance either. He fell forward with a small squeak, and Kokichi managed to dodge his falling body just in time for him to land on the bed face first with a big thump. 

At first, the small tasks that Kokichi assigned him weren’t too bad. Of course, having to make tea only for him to have to drink it himself with too much sugar in it for his taste was a little annoying, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle. However, Ouma really started to search at what tasks could make the blue haired servant a little uncomfortable, and it didn’t take long for him to find them either. Embarrassing Shuichi seemed to be one of his favorite activities now. Luckily for Saihara, things usually stopped at the talk and he wouldn’t actually take actions that the male wasn’t comfortable with, something that made him seem nicer than he tried to come across. Sometimes Shuichi was almost convinced that everything the purple haired trickster did was just to put on some type of show, but seeing into him further, he simply seemed to enjoy being a little liar and getting whatever he wanted. Still, if he respected someone, he would show it in one way or another, just so they would subtly be aware of it. At least that was what the servant decided it probably was what the prince was doing so far, and it made the annoyance he felt when being around the male a little less important. 

‘Ow’, Shuichi groaned softly, faintly hearing knocking at the door but too busy rubbing his head to really care. ‘Awww, did I hurt’cha, Saihara-chan?’, Kokichi cooed with a sickeningly sweet voice, snickering as he heard the bluenette scoff at him. ‘I don’t understand why I still trust you’, Shuichi complained, folding his arms over his chest as he moved his face to the side, deciding to just stay laying down as he had turned to lay on his back. The dip next to him indicating that the prince was still sitting on the mattress was soon gone as he heard his with nice shoes clad feet land on the floor, piquing the servant’s interest. His gaze met Ouma’s, who he now noticed had a hand extended towards him. Fingers outstretched, teasingly wiggling a bit, making the blue haired servant sigh softly. 

Of course, despite the logical part of his mind telling him not to, he took the hand that was extended to him gladly. 

‘You can trust me, because you know not to trust me’, Kokichi hummed as he swiftly pulled Shuichi to stand up, keeping a good grip on his hand as he did so. For his small form, he was strong enough; Saihara supposed that was one of the pros he got from having to train with fighting ever since he was six or so. Even if he still couldn’t wield a weapon, he had somewhat of a better physical condition than most of his peers. ‘That doesn’t make sense’, Shuichi muttered, although the small smirk that formed on Ouma’s face said enough. ‘It makes all the sense, don’t you think, Saihara-chan?’, he jabbed back, seeing the skin of the pale boy redden a bit under his gaze, a color he didn’t mind to see on the servant if he had to be honest. In silence Shuichi looked at the smaller male, the hand he was holding basically pulled to the male’s chest where he could feel his breathing, which was a strange sensation. Lying to Kokichi was impossible, but how was he supposed to tell the truth if he couldn’t tell right from wrong in this situation? 

The sound of the door opening shook both of the males out of their thoughts, as they turned their head to the door, seeing the green haired servant that apparently had been the cause of the knocking sound on the wood earlier. Rantaro didn’t even flinch as he saw the two boys standing awfully close to each other. ‘Ah, I suppose right now is not the time?’, Amami spoke up calmly, his deep voice not hinting at him being caught off guard by the scene or anything like that. 

Shuichi could feel his face heat up again as he tried to pull his hand away from Kokichi, although the boy’s grip was pretty tight. ‘No, wait, it’s fine!’, he basically squeaked out embarrassedly, seeing the amused smirk that was on Ouma’s face, and he could already guess that this wouldn’t go the way he wanted to. ‘It’s alright shumai, we can’t hide our love forever’, Kokichi told him fake-affectionately as he reached out a hand to cup the taller male’s cheek, something he quickly swatted away with his own hand as he stepped backwards, forgetting that the bed was there. ‘Keep your lying hands awa- ah!’, he shrieked as his heels hit the bed and he fell backwards onto it, again. From the corner of his eyes he saw Amami’s curious yet somehow disappointed gaze on them, and his eyes widened. ‘P-prince Ouma is just joking, we’re not-’, Shuichi tried, being cut off by Kokichi that put his hand in front of his mouth. ‘Poor Saihara-chan, getting embarrassed so easily’, the purple haired guy tutted him, ignoring the nasty glare that the bluenette send his way. ‘Now ranran, unless you want to see utmost intimate activities, I suggest you leave’, Ouma put on a stupidly rich voice as he said this, making a fool out of himself probably but seemingly not caring that much either. 

Without another word the door was closed on them again and Rantaro was gone, leaving behind a strange silence in which Kokichi quietly snickered. He yelped as he felt Shuichi’s teeth set in his fingers and pulled his hand back quickly. The servant shot up and rushed to the door, calling for Amami to wait, although it was to no use. The green haired male was no longer in this hall, and wouldn’t be able to hear him. Still embarrassed and with a groan Shuichi closed the door and leaned against it as he stared daggers into Ouma’s skin, whilst the purple haired prince pouted at him. 

‘You bit me!’, Kokichi whined indignantly as he stared at the taller male, that still frowned at him. ‘You made Rantaro think we were going to be intimate!’, he shot back, folding his arms tightly over his chest as he stared at the prince. Ouma now frowned as well, setting his hands on his hips as he tilted his head a bit. ‘Yeah, but I’m a prince and you’re a servant, so don’t you think that’s inappropriate?’, he basically threatened, his voice low. For some reason the threat didn’t have as much danger in its tone as usual, so the aspiring detective wasn’t that worried either. ‘You pushed my buttons’, he simply replied as he kept his back against the door, the stare off with Kokichi never ending as it seemed. 

‘I didn’t know you would fuckin’ bite me!’, Ouma complained as he pointed at him accusingly, the finger in which Shuichi had set his teeth showing a small mark. It was silent for just a moment, before a strange feeling bubbled up in Shuichi’s throat; seconds later, he realised he was laughing. And strangely enough, Kokichi simply joined him, laughing as well as they shook their heads, both for different reasons. Saihara at the idea that he actually bit the prince, and Kokichi for how strange this whole situation really was. 

‘But seriously’, Shuichi finally started to complain a bit again as he stopped laughing, ‘it’s the third time this week you pulled something like this. The whole staff already assumes the worst of me by now’. That only made the purple haired prince grin proudly, and Shuichi sighed as he shook his head, somewhat disappointed but not surprised. 

Kokichi pouted again as he calmly walked over to where Shuichi was leaning against the door, and stood next to him, copying the action. Still, Saihara’s gaze refused to meet him, and the pout on his face only worsened, even if it was played. He nudged the guy next to him softly, but Shuichi pushed his arm away. ‘Oh, c’mon Shumai, it’s funny!’, the prince whined a little, now not because he was irritated with the bluenette but because he wasn’t getting enough attention and he didn’t exactly like that. The servant only grumbled something under his breath, facing away from the smaller boy still, who rolled his eyes. ‘Don’t be a baby! It was just a joke…’, Kokichi groaned, now earning a sharp glare from Shuichi. ‘If you want me to stop sulking, I suggest not acting like a child for once’, he noted calmly. Ouma slumped against the door where he was standing, letting his head fall back against it with a pained groan as he bawled his fists to his side in annoyance. A small smirk set on his lips, and he looked up at Shuichi again, batting his lashes. ‘Aw, Shumai-baby, did I huwt youw feewings?’, he asked with big eyes as he placed his hands on his cheeks. 

‘Ouma, stop it’, Shuichi simply said, gritting his teeth in annoyance for the guy that was standing next to him. He usually didn’t really get irritated with the prince like this; well, sometimes he did, but he supposed that those memories felt less harsh overtime. ‘It’s prince Ouma to you’, the purple haired trickster shot back, his voice now darker and more demanding. ‘Oh, I’m so sorry, _my lord’_ , Saihara mocked him with a huff, stepping forward. He turned to the prince, blinking only once. ‘Is my job done here?’. 

The teasing expression on Ouma’s face faltered and made place for one that was completely blank. For some reason Shuichi felt a strange uncomfortableness around him, which was probably not coming from the little liar himself. The smaller boy tilted his head, as if he was inspecting him, and it made the bluenette feel a little awkward. Those purple, bright and childish eyes held much more wisdom after all than the boy let on, and Saihara was almost convinced that if the male would stare hard enough, he would be able to see every layer that there was to the servant and he would get bored, moving on like he had with every other servant so far. Yes, it was a little strange, but even though Kokichi was kind of a jackass at times, it was still a little nice to be able to call himself someone’s favorite, even if he wasn’t sure yet if those were actually the thoughts of the prince when he messed with him again. 

Experimentally, Kokichi took a step forward, seeing that the servant didn’t step back this time. They stood in silence for a moment, only the sound of Shuichi’s breathing filling the abnormally quiet room, as well as the soft ticking from a clock which the bluenette hadn’t noticed before. Pretty suddenly yet calmly at the same time, once again Ouma extended his hand towards Saihara, who looked at the thing silently. ‘I heard there’s a street market planned in the village today. You wanna come with?’, the prince asked somewhat softly for his usual behaviour. 

The blank expression was changed into a genuine smile once Shuichi reached out and took his hand like before, a genuity that made the boy a little unsure of himself, but he decided for once not to hide it.   
  


* * *

  
Patiently Shuichi waited in front of the gate like Ouma had strangely asked him to do, wearing something other than his servant clothes; the simple grey shirt with a small pocket and the darker jeans that he was most familiar with, as he hummed quietly to himself, watching the strange air that still seemed to be around the kingdom. Inside of the castle he didn’t really notice it, and now he thought about it, when being in the royal garden he didn’t really notice it either. Here the air was just tense, a bit dull, and it was a little worrying if he had to be honest, but he really didn’t have that long to think about it. 

The large door behind him opened, revealing Kokichi Ouma that was holding onto the side of it, which was kind of a funny sight seeing how small he was in comparison. Still, he didn’t laugh, as he was more curious to the sight itself. Ouma wasn’t wearing the clothes one would expect of a prince, after all, while normally he overdid every outfit he could wear. This time he only wore pants that didn’t look as expensive as usual, with small emblems sewn in the sides of them, and a shirt that held a pocket with the checkers he seemed to adore so much. A nice vest was all that he wore over that; sure, he still seemed like someone to carry enough money, but whoever didn’t know him wouldn’t be able to tell he was actually the heir to the throne of the castle. His purple hair was pulled back into a bun, although strands at the front that were too small to fit still sprung out unruly and bouncy as always, and if Shuichi had to be honest to himself, he looked _good_ like this. 

‘You like the outfit?’, Kokichi asked, placing a hand on his hip jokingly as he saw the boy look at him with curiosity, and he chuckled softly when the bluenette shrugged. ‘I-I mean’, Shuichi spoke up, clearing his throat, ‘you look different, is all’. ‘Yeah, like I don’t got a couple of diamonds up my ass, don’t you think?’, Ouma grinned as he grabbed onto the taller male’s forearm, before pulling him to start walking. ‘...That’s a way to say it’, Saihara responded slowly, not sure whether or not to ask for answers. Luckily, the prince seemed to allow him to feed into the curiosity, as he didn’t mind to speak about this. 

‘Half of this kingdom doesn’t even know what ‘prince Ouma’ looks like, so I have much more fun being dressed like I’m not a royal. You get genuine reactions from people, you know?’, Kokichi started as he hopped over pebbles that now formed the road they were walking. The castle had been built up the hills, probably for defense reasons, but that made them able to get quite the pretty view from the houses that were built way lower, looking awfully cozy together. It was a little sad that the strange smog-like texture still hung around town as if it wouldn’t ever leave, the sight would have probably been better if it weren’t for that. ‘...your mother- I mean, the Queen has told me something like that, I believe’, Shuichi nodded as he remembered a past conversation. ‘You almost never attend to parties and things like that, right?’. The boy gave a hum in affirmation as he kicked one of the pebbles that was laying in front of him, it landing further away with a satisfying thud to the ground. ‘Yuppers. She’d be embarrassed for her friends to know me, neehee!’. 

Something about his expression seemed a little forced though, so Saihara frowned a little bit, biting his lip as he studied the guy next to him until the purple haired prince himself realised that he was being looked at when Shuichi’s pace of walking slowed down a bit. ‘That’s not the real reason, is it?’, the aspiring detective asked carefully as he kept his gaze on the smaller boy next to him to be able to see the change in expression from up close if he could. Right now he felt a little stupid for not deciding to take his notebook with him, he could’ve made many notes on how to see whether Ouma was lying or not. Since there were almost no other mysteries in the castle, Kokichi was the mystery that Saihara decided to focus on and write about whenever he had nothing else to do. Becoming a detective some day was still a dream of his. 

It was concerning that the male wasn’t responding to this, since usually Ouma was rather quick witted, and Shuichi was about to make a comment on this change of behaviour as well, although something stopped him. A strange scent that filled the area, somewhat smelling like the campfires his uncle liked except in a strangely different way, piqued Saihara’s interest, and his eyes weren’t set on the boy next to him anymore, but they were look at where this smell could’ve came from. 

He hadn’t noticed that they had walked in a fairly quick pace and therefore were close to the village part of this kingdom already, so he was surprised to see that they walking towards a crow of tense looking people. The path that they were walking to was a different one, one that didn’t lead to the castle but to another spot, which wasn’t the village itself. Shuichi actually hadn’t had the time yet to check out the whole kingdom for himself, so he wouldn’t know what they were going to, but whatever it was, most seemed somewhat uncomfortable or maybe even anxious about it, moving like they had to stick together. 

Shuichi turned to Kokichi that was still walking next to him, wanting to ask him what this was about, but he seemed a little lost in thought as he watched these people as well with a small frown on his face. There had been a soft scent of the dull lavender flowers that were scattered across the land of the Lavender Kingdom before, but now it just smelled a bit more sour, as well as the smell of what Saihara could only suppose was some sort of fire got a little stronger. ‘Prin- Ouma, do you know what’s happening?’, the blue haired servant asked suspiciously and a little panicked as well, since he didn’t do well with a crowd of people that was so pressed up together like this. Kokichi blinked as his name was called, and eyed the taller male, sniffing somewhat angrily. ‘Yeah. They’re probably burning someone else at the stake’, he simply stated. 

For a moment Shuichi fell silent, rolling his eyes at Kokichi, but as the silence was returned from the prince, he realised that he wasn’t actually lying. ‘W-wait, what? Why?’, he stammered confusedly as the purple haired boy again grabbed onto his arm, a little harsher this time as he pulled him away from the crowd. ‘Because’, Ouma started with a huff, ‘They probably think they’ve caught a witch in the village. I swear, burning people is the only thing that keeps these folks going in these times’. ‘But- can’t you like.. tell them not to do things like that?’, Shuichi asked with a frown, hearing the soft and humourless snicker from the smaller male next to him. Kokichi almost sneered at him it seemed, but he held himself calm. ‘Ugh, sweet, dense little Saihara-chan. Don’t you think the royals would’ve stopped their people from burning each other if they weren’t in on it?’. 

That made the servant’s heart stop for a bit, as it dawned on him just what that implied. ‘You mean… you mean… your parents condone of this?’, he muttered to Kokichi, seeing the boy simply nod as a response, scoffing as he saw the people rushing to make it to where the burning would be happening. It was a reality that was hard to grasp for Shuichi. Sure, he had heard of the fact that those who practiced witchcraft had to fear for their lives, since it was a craft that wasn’t allowed in most kingdoms solemnly for the fact that it could be used wrongly. But for a power that one possesed, why did they have to get a death as horrible as burning at the stake? Saihara thought that cruel way of murdering innocent people had long gone vanished, but apparently, it had not. And the king and queen, those that had their arms wide open for the boy to enter their castle and seemed so sweet, they were in on it as well if he had to trust Ouma’s words. ‘But.. they were so nice to me… all these villagers were nice, my uncle said..’, he mumbled, mostly to himself, although Kokichi seemed to have heard him. 

Again the prince scoffed, and he folded his arms over his chest as he watched Shuichi mumble to himself next to him. ‘Well, even nice people do awful things when they’re scared’. It was a simple sentence, one that held more truth than Saihara was used to from Ouma, and he wasn’t sure if he was happy with this. 

The prince noticed that Shuichi got stuck in his head over this, and instead of grabbing onto his arm again, he linked their hands together, giving a small squeeze, which the bluenette responded with a blink. In no time Kokichi was moving again, skipping in his pace as Shuichi followed him, and a big grin on his face. ‘Come on, I’m sure we’ll find some cool stuff at the market!’, he said. It was obvious that he was taking the male’s mind off of things like these, and if Saihara had to be honest, he couldn’t have been more glad, so he decided to give into the boy’s antics and follow him to a street that was a little more broad than the others. Houses were built very close to each other, but this street seemed to serve as some sort of main street. Shuichi recognized it from when he had traveled to this castle with his uncle a while back, although now it was a little different. Now there were little makeshift stalls of shops, selling different types of things.   
  
Shuichi had never bothered to go to a street market before, since the people from his town didn’t really appreciate him there anyway, so this was a first time. If he had to be honest, even though the things they sold would normally not catch his eye at all, now he couldn’t help but to have his focus snatched away by the different types of rubbish that other people didn’t need anymore. It was a strange experience. Even if the city was dull and their people seemed somewhat tired, they seemed happy enough here, and the street wasn’t as crowded as the bluenette had expected, which was also kind of nice since he was pretty sure he would lose Kokichi otherwise judging by the way he was running around already as if he was a little kid. Saihara would never understand the amount of energy that guy still had for a seventeen year old. 

‘Here, hold this!’, the prince chirped as he pushed a bag into the male’s hands, making him chuckle quietly, although this turned to an alarmed sigh as suddenly the purple haired liar was gone from his sight. ‘Ouma?!’, Shuichi called out, rubbing his head tiredly, realising this was probably how the whole day was gonna go if he wouldn’t pay attention to the little trickster. He pushed himself carefully through the crowd, searching for the purple dot of hair that would indicate that Kokichi was still around. Different types of stands piqued his interest, all ranging from the strangest to the most normal products he had ever seen, and he was having a hard time not just standing there and investigating some of these objects simply to feed his curiosity. 

Eventually he found the boy gushing over some stand that held all kinds of checkered fabrics and products, and he had to laugh at least quietly at how excited the male seemed. What his deal was with the pattern, Shuichi would never know. ‘There you are, I was looking for you’, Saihara muttered almost motherly. The smaller guy ignored him, instead grabbing hold of some strange looking pin, and basically shoving it into Saihara’s face, definitely a bit too excited over rubble like this. ‘I wanna have this!’, Ouma exclaimed, tilting his head and looking at the servant “cutily”. Although Saihara blushed a little bit from the attention, he just chuckled softly again, sighing. ‘Just get it then, I’m not your caretaker’, he told the purple haired boy, that frowned at the indication before straightening his back a bit probably to seem taller as he realised he should be superior to Shuichi of course. ‘Technically you are’, Kokichi murmured to himself as he turned his back towards the bluenette and looked through the stand that had the different checkered objects again. 

Leaving Ouma be, Saihara let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. It was getting a little colder outside he noticed now it was nearing fall, and he could only imagine what the winter would feel like here. Maybe it would be cozier than his hometown, he hoped so at least. These people did seem like the types to put up lights outside, that would make for a pretty sight from the castle. 

As the boy was deep in thought, his gaze suddenly landed on something sparkly on the other side of the street in a stand that almost seemed a little hidden away, with no stands standing right next to it. It wasn’t exactly sparkly, but if he wasn’t mistaking, a strange purple glow came from the stall, and it made him a bit curious. Without a second thought, Shuichi made his way towards the wooden makeshift shop, seeing what exactly had caught his attention, and immediately being fully engulfed in only the sight of it.   
  
On the wooden shelf in front of him was sitting perhaps the most interesting stone he had ever seen. It had a purple color, although just saying one color would be a mistake, as it seemed to have a whole range of different types of shades in it. The stone was somewhat shiny as well like he had seen before, and as he recklessly reached out to touch it, instead of being smooth it was a strangely harsh surface he could feel, which fascinated the male immediately. He almost didn’t hear the voice of the woman behind the counter speak up, but when he did, his eyes were only torn away from the stone for a moment to take in the girl that had a lighter shade of blue for her hair, long and let loose, glasses placed on the tip of her nose almost elegantly as her assertive seeming eyes were trained on the servant. ‘Are you interested in the amethyst? It is just plain pretty, is it not?’, the girl giggled softly. Silently Saihara nodded, his eyes stuck on the rock in front of him. He felt enchanted, that’s how comfortable the strange encounter was. 

Of course she had different types of gemstones, but for some reason the purple one was which the bluenette couldn’t keep his eyes off. ‘You know, an amethyst is known for its ability to absorb negativity’, the woman spoke as she sat down on a chair she had for herself. Again, the boy didn’t say anything but nod, letting his fingers run over the surface again. ‘And getting a better spiritual awareness’, she added to that with a sly smile, one which Shuichi happily returned. Her eyes looked a little purple too, now he was aware of them burning into his skin, and he supposed that wasn’t too big of a problem. 

Kokichi Ouma himself was slowly getting a little bored from the stalls he was seeing so far, when he was really just looking to see Shuichi gush over something cute so he could make fun of him for that. He had bought some things already with the money he had taken from his parents; he supposed they wouldn’t really miss it, since they didn’t care too much about it, they always said. There was a reason why he disliked his parents, even if he couldn’t help but to feel some sort of attachment to them as well. The dilemma of having nice yet so cruel parents, it was crazy. He sulked a bit as he thought about them, and decided that finding Shuichi was probably a priority now; it wasn’t like the guy could have wandered off too far. 

‘You know, it’s a shame that I have to get rid of all this’, the woman, who had introduced herself as Tsumugi Shirogane earlier, but never asked for the aspiring detective’s name in return. Saihara didn’t mind though, he was glad that he could keep his full focus on the pretty objects in front of him. ‘But my friend was sadly enough not as plain as I am. She stood out too much, you see?’, Shirogane said, her voice sweet like honey as she spoke, lulling Shuichi into a sleepy and content state as he stood near her stand, his hand still on the amethyst. He wanted to take it with, but at the same time he just wanted to stand here and look at it. ‘She’s probably burning at the stake right now as we speak’, the girl laughed softly, and as her smile almost felt like it stung, the bluenette couldn’t help but to smile himself as well, eyes still trained on the gemstone even if he seemed to be able to see what Tsumugi was doing as well. ‘I see’, he muttered in response. ‘Do you now, Saihara?’, she mused softly, the strange smile not leaving her face. 

‘ _Saihara-chan!!_ I’m being kidnapped, you better come save me!’, Kokichi called out with a groan as he couldn’t find the bluenette soon enough. Looking at all the things he supposed old women would like, since that seemed to be Shuichi’s style as well, there was no sight of the male. Even as he was being a bit dramatic, still the servant didn’t come to his aid, and Ouma was just utterly bored. It wasn’t because he was worried about Shuichi being left alone in a town that he didn’t know anything about, of course not. He wasn’t even the littlest bit worried. 

And more lies Kokichi Ouma tells himself to feel better about himself. 

The sun showing through the strange clouds made him able to see a little better, and somewhere in the back, almost covered away he noticed a mop of blue hair, and a careful smile set on his lips as he skipped towards the boy. It was Shuichi alright, and he was looking at some type of… stone? Who knew he would be interested in things like that. ‘Saihara-chan! I was looking all over for you!’, Kokichi over exaggerated as he grabbed a hold of his arm, although the guy didn’t move. ‘Mhm’, Shuichi hummed in acknowledgement, his fingers rubbing over the amethyst that he had been looking at. 

Ouma frowned a little as he watched the male act not so much like himself; it was as if he was in a different headspace, which was strange. The sudden voice that spoke up startled the purple haired prince a little, but he didn’t comment on it as his eyes met the lady that spoke. ‘You know the thing about witches, Saihara?’, she asked almost sweetly, dark eyes however focussed on Kokichi. Shuichi made a questioning noise in response, although he wasn’t all too responsive, and it made Ouma wonder just what this lady was doing. Whatever it was, it was making his skin crawl already. ‘They come in different shapes and sizes, just like these stones. They’re gems, supposed to be admired, but once someone is a bit too careless…’, she muttered, before pinching her thumb and pointer finger together With a swift motion she flicked one glassy looking stone from the counter. It shattered on the ground, some shards flying towards Shuichi, but the male didn’t even flinch. This was a very red flag for Kokichi, since Shuichi is a very easily startled person as far as he could tell. ‘They shatter’, she finished in a whisper, staring at Kokichi the longer she talked. 

‘Come, let’s go back to the castle, Shumai’, Ouma spoke up, fortunately able to keep his voice normal, but it was to no use. It was almost as if Saihara was glued to the floor; it was heavy to pull on his arm, and he was unresponsive. ‘Some witches are even bound to special objects, did you know so?’, she asked. Although her dark piercing eyes never left the purple haired prince, Shuichi responded with a small ‘No’, his fingers pressing harder into the stone, and to Kokichi’s shock, he was drawing blood. ‘Look, I don’t know what you want, but we have to go now’, Ouma said a little more rushed now, pointed towards the woman, as he pulled onto the male’s arm. His anxiety and anger levels were quickly rising. ‘Oh, but you shouldn’t run from who you are, should you now? That would just be plain boring, don’t you think?’, Shirogane muttered softly to him, a soft giggle coming from her lips afterwards, although to Kokichi it sounded like the shards of glassy stone trying to impale him all over again. ‘Look, woman, we’re leaving. Right now’, Kokichi hissed, pulling onto Shuichi’s arm more harsh, less worried about leaving a bruise now but more worried about what the girl was doing to him. ‘Or what?’, Tsumugi challenged, reaching out a hand and wrapping it around the wrist of Shuichi. The boy was unresponsive as large red nails dug into his skin, drawing blood again, the crimson liquid slowly trickling down his skin. The red nails reminded Ouma of a particular witch living right outside of the kingdom, and if he wasn’t angered by the fact that she was keeping Saihara in a trance and hurting him, that definitely was the last straw. 

Shuichi wasn’t sure what exactly happened, but suddenly he felt the hazy pressure leave him, being met with the sight of every object that was neatly stacked on Tsumugi’s shelves of her self made little shop flying off of their stands and falling on the ground, most of them shattering to pieces. This included the amethyst that he could remember looking at. Shuichi squeaked a bit and gripped onto the arm of the person next to him. Turning his face, he noticed it was Kokichi. When did he get here?   
  
‘Oh, the wind is acting up again’, Shirogane said calmly, not too phased by the sudden invisible attack on her stand. Although he wanted to ask her about the stone, he felt Kokichi pull him away from the place quickly. ‘Hey- what’s going on? What’s wrong?’, Shuichi asked carefully, seeing the face of the prince slowly turning back to its normal shade from being a bit red, as a strangely worried glint in his eyes caught Saihara off guard. ‘Nothing’, Kokichi responded, pulling onto his hand and inspecting the skin on his arm. Now he thought about it, the skin stung a little there, as well as on his fingers, but there were no wounds to proof anything. ‘Absolutely nothing’, Ouma mumbled. 


	7. Destiny

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Did I… do something wrong? Are you mad at me?’, Shuichi asked, a little more careful than he had before.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> I'm not sure if this was kind of a later update than usual, so sorry for that! I had some things to deal with, and I'm gonna try to update as much as I can, but I wouldn't want to bring out stuff when I don't feel like writing at all. Also, my plans for this story have gotten perhaps a little bit darker than before, so sorry for that as well;; oops. 
> 
> -warnings the same as usual-
> 
> It's continuing from the last chapter this time.

Kokichi was still loosely holding onto the wrist he had inspected before which was Shuichi’s as he pulled the blue haired male away from the small shop they had just been standing at, the one where Tsumugi Shirogane was still picking up broken pieces of stones and other products she had been selling. His face was slowly getting less red, although Saihara wasn’t exactly sure what could’ve caused something like that to happen; it hadn’t been a blush from embarrassment after all, it seemed more like someone had pissed him off big time, and the servant was quite honestly afraid that perhaps  _ he  _ was somehow at fault himself. They pushed through small groups of people, maybe even a little harsher than Kokichi usually was, and it made Shuichi feel a little bit uncomfortable. Sure, the prince had been disappointed before under his company, and he was loud and he had said mean things, but Saihara was pretty sure he hadn’t seen him like this before. This genuine, he meant. Ouma enjoyed playing mad, but for some reason Shuichi simply had not expected to ever see him actually seething like he was in the moment. 

The scariest part was probably how quiet the purple haired prince was. His lips were pressed in a thin line contrary to the usual smirk he had on his face, no glint of mischievous playfulness visible in his eyes. The bright, beautiful eyes that had once looked like a painted picture now more resembled the dull lavender flowers that one would find when visiting the countryside of the kingdom. He didn’t even look at Shuichi when they were walking; not that he had exactly done so before, but the servant was just much more aware of this fact now. His hair, still tied in a bun but somewhat more unruly as if he had just exercised or something like that, was all that Saihara could face when he was being pulled further away from where they first were standing. He gulped quietly, thoughts flooding his mind. What had he done wrong? Had he done something wrong to begin with? Should he not have looked around for himself, was that it? He couldn’t come to a right conclusion, and unfortunately, he wouldn’t unless he asked the prince himself. 

‘Uhm… prince Ouma?’, he asked him carefully, being sure to add the title of him being a royal so he wouldn’t scold him because of that, and keeping his voice soft enough not to disturb the people around them that were seemingly just happily shopping around and conversing with friends throughout the street market. The village wasn’t that grand, so Shuichi supposed that many knew each other, and otherwise would easily get to know each other. 

Kokichi only grumbled softly as some sort of acknowledging hum to tell him to speak up, although he didn’t look like he was up for a talk at all. The air was tense, and the strange type of fog that hung around and about the village seemed to be even worse than it was before, invading the boy’s lungs and making it harder to breath. Although that could have been a part of his imagination as well, and the breathing problem was solely caused by his anxiety for whatever answer was to come. ‘Did I… do something wrong? Are you mad at me?’, Shuichi asked, a little more careful than he had before. The grip that was at first tightly on his wrist weakened only a little bit, making him feel the blood return to flow normally through his veins, which was something he was at least slightly grateful for. Although he couldn’t see Kokichi’s expression since the back of his head was the most interesting thing he could see from where he was being pulled forward by the male, he did see that his pace slowed just for a second. Still, as if nothing had happened he continued to step swiftly. No answer came from the prince. It was safe to say that this made Saihara at least a little bit worried. 

The pace of walking, that felt more like they were trying to run without  _ actually _ running did slow a bit eventually, and Shuichi was happy that it did so since he felt like he was going to trip over the pebbles that were laying all over this path. The little shops that were made out of whatever wooden objects the people had at home slowly started to lessen, and gradually the street became emptier. It was as if they walked to a much quieter part of town. Still, it looked like the prince knew where he was going, since he wasn’t slowing down in the littlest bit. It kind of confused Shuichi as to why they weren’t going straight back to the castle, but he supposed that Ouma must have had his reasons. 

Since there were less people around, Shuichi decided to speak up once more, hoping that perhaps the prince was more comfortable discussing what was wrong if they were somewhere a little more private. ‘Look, prince Ouma, I’m sorry.. for whatever I did’, Saihara muttered to him, loud enough for the purple haired trickster to be able to hear him. Something that the servant didn’t expect happened: Kokichi turned his head towards him, wearing a small frown. ‘What are you talking about, Saihara-chan? Liven up a little, you’re supposed to amuse me, y’know!’, the smaller guy chirped happily, his mood very contrary to the silent and more pissed off Kokichi that he had shown before. ‘Uh, what?’, Shuichi asked, a little confused. For some reason the switch in mood didn’t seem right; it almost felt forced, and Saihara had noticed that before. The boy usually didn’t seem to be one for confrontation, is something he had already written down in his notebook. It was as if he lied to avoid confrontation with the truth, although most times the lying habit seemed more like a hobby than anything. ‘Oh, chin up shumai, being depressed is so  _ boring _ ’, the prince complained with a soft groan, before a big grin was plastered onto his face as he excitedly pulled Shuichi forward to another small market stall of some sort. 

‘Ko- Ouma, are you sure we shouldn’t talk about thi-’, Shuichi started carefully as he placed a hand on the boy’s shoulder, but he was cut off by the guy himself as he cried out a ‘Kaede!’, and let go of the bluenette only to run towards the stand. Behind there stood a blonde young woman, pretty and seeming like a nice person overall, giving out some positive energy. She seemed a little shocked at first, but her expression quickly turned into a smile as she laughed softly at the purple haired trickster. With interest, almost forgetting the last subject, Shuichi went over to where Ouma was already happily chatting with the woman that he supposed was called Kaede. 

Now he was standing closer, the urge to talk suddenly left the bluenette as he realised what she was selling. In some type of open basket there lay a somewhat old looking cat, beautiful fur and contently purring as she was nuzzled by… many kittens that were around it. Shuichi’s ability to speak was basically shut up in only a second. It wasn’t fair; he had a weak for cute animals, even if he tried not to tell anyone this, since it was kind of embarrassing. With big eyes he watched how the small kittens mewed softly and played with each other, seeing how carefully Kaede separated some of them when the older looking ones became a little too aggressive during their game. ‘I don’t think we’ve met. I’m Kaede Akamatsu, nice to meet you!’, the blond told him, holding onto the pale pink vest she was wearing, with a smile that was filled with an energy that made Saihara smile back a bit. ‘U-uh, nice to meet you, I’m Shuichi Saihara’, he muttered back, realising how quiet he must have sounded, since the girl giggled softly. It didn’t sound mean at all, so that was a good sign, he guessed. 

Ouma stopped rambling out his nonsense to the young woman, and eyed Shuichi that was standing next to him. He wasn’t sure what was wrong, but the small guy didn’t seem too happy for a second, although he quickly put on a smile as he reached out a hand and petted one of the cats. Even though the action was swift, sudden and probably not greatly thought about before doing so, the kitten than Kokichi attacked with his affection only seemed startled for a bit. 

‘..So, you know each other?’, Shuichi asked carefully as he folded his arms over his chest and decided to focus on the lady in front of him, so he wouldn’t accidentally show how embarrassingly affectionate he could get over the cute animals she was apparently giving away. ‘Yup! I’ve known Ouma since he was a little guy… well, little-er, I suppose’, she chuckled softly. Kokichi grumbled at that, and it made Saihara snicker softly as well, which resulted into the prince elbowing him before going back to ignoring the two that were talking about him. ‘Before he came to the market on his own, his parents took him sometimes. He’d wander off and I’d bring him back to his family, but not before he could spend time with- well, that really doesn’t matter too much. If you’re questioning whether or not I’ve grown used to what Ouma is like, yes I have; he’s been like this ever since I got to know him’, the blonde said happily, seeing Kokichi pout in response. ‘Aww, Kaede, I thought you loved me! But here you are, talking smack about me to my boyfriend’, he whined, thick crocodile tears slipping down his cheeks. 

Although Shuichi’s cheeks felt like they were on fire by how quickly they reddened, he cleared his throat. ‘Uh, ignore that part, he’s just joking’, he tried, and Akamatsu snickered. ‘I know, don’t worry’. Ouma blew a raspberry as he hooked his arm with Shuichi’s, strangely possessive an action, and made the boy only blush more as he shook his head. It was a little endearing if he had to be honest, since even though if Kokichi made jokes about being his boyfriend and things like that, he still seemed like he did care at least the littlest bit, so it made Shuichi a little happy anyway, even if it was just all fun and games. 

‘So… what’s the village like?’, Shuichi asked the girl as Kokichi went back to gushing about cats, actually a little curious to know more. The bright expression was replaced by a careful smile from Akamatsu, and she shrugged a little. ‘Well, it’s interesting, at least. I can’t say I agree with everything that happens here’, she continued, her eyes meeting the smoke that was visible in the distance, before eyeing Kokichi. His purple eyes twinkled a bit as they looked back at her; it was as if there was an unspoken conversation going on, but Saihara decided not to ask about it. ‘But I’ve also met some wonderful people here. Everything has its pros and cons, don’t you think?’, she finished, clasping her hands together softly. The bluenette decided he would have to agree on that; even if he usually considered the negative things to be far more important, he still did believe that was she said was true. 

Ouma’s eyes were focussed on the homemade basket in front of them, on two separate of the baby cats in particular. He sighed quietly, seeming genuinely in thought, which didn’t occur often to the small trickster. ‘Something wrong?’, Shuichi asked him carefully, placing a hand on his shoulder again like he had before. Strangely enough, Ouma flinched a little bit, before his blank expression turned into a smirk. ‘Aww, Shumai is worried about me? That’s cute, Saihara-chan!’. The aspiring detective guessed he only said this to rile Shuichi up a little so the subject could shift from him to the blushing male, but he stayed silent for him to have his say. 

Kokichi bit his lip as he realised his tactic wasn’t working, and seeming careless although his eyes showed that it was definitely calculated he cupped his neck with his hands, rocking on his heels a bit. ‘The cats. They remind me of Hope and Lucky, is all’, Ouma muttered, a bit uncomfortable about opening up it seemed. Kaede gave him a knowing glance before turning to another customer that was standing next to the stand. ‘Hope and Lucky?’, Shuichi questioned softly, keeping his voice down just in case since strangers were nearby, and he didn’t want to embarrass Kokichi in front of them, even if the trickster would gladly embarrass Saihara in front of whoever was willing to watch.    
The purple haired prince shrugged a bit and stroked the fur on the head of the small kitten that seemed to be lulled to sleep by the voices of those around her. He had hunched over a little, which was a strange sight for the already smaller guy. ‘My friends owned two cats that looked just like these. They live up in the mountains now; I think it’s best if we don’t speak too much about them’, Kokichi said almost in a whisper, and Saihara was pretty sure he understood. It was at least a subject that he wasn’t supposed to bring up with strangers nearby, and perhaps even with the blonde girl that Kokichi seemed to know personally. It was still a little odd though; ever since he had been to the stand of that blue haired lady whose name he had already forgotten, something had slightly changed in Ouma. He was being more open towards him at the moment than Shuichi would have expected from him, and he supposed the strange experience must have had something to do with it, although he couldn’t be sure why that was. At least the prince didn’t seem mad at him anymore, so that was good. 

The woman that had been talking to Kaede left after Kokichi glared at her kid, simply since he didn’t feel like being nearby a stranger anymore. Shuichi sighed softly as he saw this happening, but sadly enough he couldn’t scold the male for it since he was a prince and Shuichi himself was a servant. He wouldn’t want to know what that would cause him, if not simply his job. Although slipping up did happen often, he tried to keep himself calm around the male. So far he didn’t seem to mind his scolding most of the time. 

Shuichi slowly dared to look at the small cats again, just praying to whoever was out there to listen that he wouldn’t embarrass himself, when he saw something a little peculiar. A snow white kitten, the only one that had complete white and somehow still clean hairs as well as being maybe the smallest out of all of them had stood up from where it had been laying next to their mother. The little quadruped took wobbly steps, although she swiftly got the hang of it, and let out a strangely cute purring sound as she made her way to where Shuichi was. She went as far as to climb up against the edge of the basket, paws outstretched to Shuichi. The male watched this with wide eyes, a small blush evident on his face as he felt like he might squeal, seeing the bright and cute little eyes of the kitten which reminded him of a certain person, although the curious and smart eyes weren’t purple in this case. 

Hearing kaede’s giggle snapped him out of the strange haze he was in looking at the sweet animal and his eyes met the girl’s, that was looking right back at him. ‘She seems to like you!’, the blonde woman spoke happily, making Saihara smile a little bit, as he carefully reached out to pet the small animal. He wasn’t used to the softness of it, since where he used to live they didn’t have many animals, and the people from his town would definitely not let him pet them even if they had a pet. ‘It’s kind of funny though’, Akamatsu continued, leaning against the side post of the small shop she had created, seeing the purple eyes of Ouma on the both of them. ‘Hm?’, Shuichi hummed as he acknowledged her talking, although he was busier with stroking the head of the white kitten that nudged her head against his palm ever so often, making him smile as he contained a gleeful sigh or sound to escape. ‘Well, when my girlfriend was last here, she opted to call her Destiny. She had a feeling or something. We stuck with the name, anyhow’, Akamatsu continued with a soft laugh. 

Shuichi’s motions of tenderly petting the kitten stopped, his eyes widening a little bit as he looked at the cat in silence. She wasn’t moving either, as if she had expected as much. Destiny. Fate. Whatever spirit or universe was out there tormenting him, playing a big joke on him, they were persistent, it seemed. This was yet another time that the thought of fate was brought up to him, and he couldn’t tell if he enjoyed it or not. 

‘You can have her’, the voice of Kokichi Ouma next to him startled the boy out of his small moment of panic, and he quickly took in the gaze that the smaller male had set on him. ‘Wh-what?’, Shuichi asked, slowly calming down as he turned to the purple haired prince, that only gave him a small nod. ‘The kitten. You like her, right? You can have her’. ‘But- I didn’t take any money with me, I don’t-’, Shuichi muttered softly to him, hoping that Akamatsu didn’t hear them speaking, but the boy’s sigh interrupted him. ‘When I say you can have her, I mean you can, you’re smart enough to figure it out, right?’, Ouma said almost in a grumpy fashion. The thought that Kokichi was ready to gift him something like this made the bluenette blush a little again, as he cleared his throat softly, and thought about the offer. ‘Uh- but what if one of the other servants is allergic?’, he asked, rocking softly on his heels and fumbling with his fingers to try and calm himself down somehow from the strange nerves he was feeling in his stomach, for whatever reason that may have been. 

Kokichi’s blank expression turned into a smirk, as he shrugged, his eyes gleaming mischievously as per usual. ‘Well, sucks to be them, then’, he simply responded to that, snickering quietly as he heard the boy’s huff in response. ‘Ouma, you can’t do that, it wouldn’t be nice. I don’t want to risk the comfort of someone else in the castle’, he quickly shook his head, holding his hands up almost defensively as he defended his part of the argument. 

‘Fine, I’ll take her for myself then. You’ll indirectly still own the pet’, Ouma pointed out, and before Shuichi could reject the idea or try to stop him, he already paid for the small animal, and Kaede gave them some instructions on how to take best care of her. That’s how the bluenette ended up walking back to the castle with Kokichi fairly late in the evening, holding the kitten in his arms as she happily nuzzled into his chest from where he was holding her, and thanking the male for the gift, even if it felt a little strange to share a cat with Kokichi that was called Destiny. 

Luckily for the both of them, for Shuichi since he didn’t want to feel guilty and for Kokichi because he wouldn’t have to listen to a big lecture from his parents, none of the servants turned out to be allergic to the small animal, so they welcomed her into the castle happily. However, the fact that this cat was owned by both the prince  _ and  _ the servant only made the speculations that were going on about more personal things surrounding the two worse. It definitely made Chihiro’s teasing worse, that was for sure. 

It was only a morning later, and Shuichi was enjoying a cup of coffee for breakfast since that was fairly rare for the servants and therefore he enjoyed it even more since hunger didn’t really hit him until later in the day as per usual. He was sitting in his usual seat, at least the one he had grown used to sitting, accompanied by Fujisaki so far, and as well Rantaro Amami, although the green haired male seemed to be a little in thought as he looked at Saihara. Although it probably should have freaked the blue haired servant out a little bit, they were used to Amami’s somewhat cryptic behaviour by now, so it really didn’t bother him all too much. 

‘I’m actually really glad that you and prince Ouma are dating now’, Fujisaki spoke as he poked into the pudding that was his breakfast for the day, happily taking a spoon of the stuff and stuffing it into his mouth. Shuichi sighed and shook his head, resting his head against his own hand as he kept his elbow on the table, with the other hand holding his cup of coffee that he was drinking slowly. ‘Please stop saying we’re dating, the other servants might start to believe you’, Saihara murmured, hearing the soft chuckle from Chihiro that knew he may or may not be a little irritated from it, although he made sure not to overstep the boy’s boundaries. ‘I mean, since he’s really busy with bothering you, lately he hasn’t bothered us all that much’, the brunette continued with a happy hum, sitting back a bit as he waved at another servant that he had befriended from the place, since she just walked in. Shuichi was still having a hard time remembering every name, but most of the last names he did at least know somewhat, so he could be able to ask for help if he wanted to. 

‘So you’re using me as a sacrifice?’, Shuichi asked with a teasing tone, enjoying the warm liquid entering his system as he sipped on the coffee some more. ‘A sacrifice for the greater good, don’t misunderstand’, Fujisaki responded with a fond smile. The two of them had gotten to become friends at some point and that was why the brunette felt fine with teasing the bluenette sometimes, since he still seemed awfully shy around most that were basically strangers to him. It was nice for Saihara to know how far the boy had come, since it made him believe someday he would get over his social troubles as well. After all, he’d already made greater bondings here with more people than he had in his hometown, not counting Kiibo of course. 

Saihara was of course kind of startled when Rantaro suddenly spoke up after being so intensely quiet before. ‘Saihara, can we talk?’, the guy spoke up, voice deep and calm as ever, although it did seem a little urgent. Chihiro’s eyes widened a little bit as well, although he swiftly calmed down, realising it was just Amami so there was nothing to worry about. ‘Uh, sure. What about?’, Shuichi asked carefully, holding the mug with two hands as he watched the green haired male that was sitting in front of them as per usual. He sighed softly, deep eyes staring at the bluenette. ‘In private’, the male added. Shuichi blinked, thinking for a moment, and turning to Fujisaki, since he knew that Rantaro probably wouldn’t ask something like this if it wasn’t even the slightest bit important. ‘Do you mind…?’, he asked the brunette, that smiled a little. Usually they would wait for each other to finish breakfast if they ate together, which also included Rantaro even though the guy often came in later for whatever reason. ‘No, no, it’s fine. Just go, Shu-chan’, Chihiro nudged his shoulder, laughing quietly when he saw the small blush that formed onto Saihara’s cheeks. ‘Stop calling me that, it’s bad enough that prince Ouma insists on using that’, the blue haired servant grumbled as he swiftly finished up the dark liquid that was coffee, before getting up from his seat. 

When Rantaro said in private, he apparently meant it, since they were walking to his room. Shuichi wasn’t sure what to expect, and it made him a little nervous. Amami never really invited anyone over to enter his room, and even if people knocked at his door, he would make sure to meet them outside instead of simply letting them in; it seemed like he was very keen on his own personal stuff and privacy. The green haired male of course did converse with him and Chihiro from time to time, even going as far as usually sitting with them in the servant dining place, but apart from that he didn’t seem that close to anybody. Maybe Kirumi Tojo, but everyone had at least some sort of respect for the woman, since she was as great as a maid as someone could possibly be. 

He opened his door, the nameplate that said his name seemingly new so he supposed that he hadn’t been a servant for far too long a time, although Saihara couldn’t be sure of that fact of course. The room he stepped into was surprisingly normal; well, if he considered his own room as well. It had the same color scheme as his own room, and the same bed, which wasn’t that big of a surprise. However, there were many shelves in his room, more than Shuichi had, some of them seeming like Amami had maybe made the construction himself. And there were books on them. Shuichi didn’t think that Rantaro was that much of a reader, or at least he hadn’t expected it, but there were many many books and small boxes placed on the different shelves and the cupboards, some seeming older than the green haired male himself could have been, and some looking more like logbooks. 

Rantaro cleared his throat as he saw the bluenette inspect the shelves curiously, rubbing his neck a bit sheepishly. ‘Ah, I didn’t really intend to ever take anyone in here, so sorry for the mess. Seeing you’re getting closer to prince Ouma, I suppose I could talk to you…’, he finished the strange apology as his voice grew a little softer, a small frown on his face as if he wasn’t that sure of his own decision either. Saihara, realising that his inner investigation of the shelves of books probably wasn’t really appropriate, turned his back to the shelves and cupboards and hummed as he motioned for the male to go on. He had been brought here to talk about something after all. 

‘So, this may come out of nowhere’, the guy continued, still a little sheepish it seemed since he was in his own room; perhaps privacy really was a big thing for the male. ‘But when I helped dress prince Ouma this morning, he told me about… the burning yesterday. Or more specifically, he spoke of you. Was it really true, did you mean what you said?’, Amami asked carefully. Shuichi thought for a bit, back to what he had said, and he folded his arms together. ‘That depends on what prince Ouma has told you. He has a habit of lying about things, I’m sure I’m not the first to notice’, Saihara smiled softly as he said this, hearing the soft tapping of his foot that Rantaro did. The male laughed softly in response, with a knowing glint in his eyes. ‘You think the burnings are inhuman, correct? Even when you knew the reason behind them?’. ‘Yes, definitely’, Shuichi responded without hesitation, almost in a nervous way bringing his hands together near his chest. 

‘Okay, then you can’t repeat what I will tell you to anyone’, Amami told him, his eyes darkening a little bit more, almost threateningly. ‘You need to understand, even the people who you think you can trust the most have different ways of thinking than you and I, do you understand?’. With a soft gulp, feeling a little bit intimidated, the bluenette nodded in response, letting Rantaro talk. 

Now the male seemed to lose his tense posture, and he smiled reassuringly at Shuichi, before starting his speech. ‘Well, before I became a servant here, I used to travel a lot. For personal reasons, you see. In any case, I have met many cultures, been introduced to many different ways of thinking, and have been through cultural experiences, some better than others. I have seen a lot, is what I’m trying to say’, the green haired male started off, taking a seat on his bed and motioning for Shuichi to do the same, to which he complied. ‘I’ve heard a lot of stories, and I’ve seen things to believe those stories firsthand. At first the whole idea of witches was a mess, of course it was, but when I started to open up to the idea, I learned, and I understood. I think sometimes it is more important to understand than to be able to help’, Amami followed. So far, Saihara only nodded for him to go on, even if he wasn’t exactly sure what the male was trying to say yet. 

‘Well, there is not just one type of  _ witch,  _ as the villagers here like to put it. I think… I think Ouma may have something related to his emotions. I’m sure you’ve witnessed strange things happen around him at least once or twice; he is pretty good at concealing his real emotions, but when he can’t, things happen’, the green haired servant continued explaining, and Shuichi’s throat suddenly felt a bit tighter by what he was implying. ‘Wait- we can’t be sure that is really Ouma’s doing, right? He hasn’t harmed anyone here, at least not physically, right? Sure, he likes to prank people-’, he rambled a bit, being cut off by Amami’s words. ‘Yes, but I’m not trying to make him out to be a bad guy, Saihara. I.. I have a whole book about the subject, if you ever need to see what I’m talking about’. 

‘There’s actually a very well known legend in your hometown, did you know that?’, Rantaro basically blurted out when there was a small silence that had followed after what he had just dropped on Shuichi. The bluenette shrugged, sitting back and glancing at the male next to him. ‘There are many legends. Some I’m more familiar with than others’. 

The other servant got up from where he was sitting on the bed, making his way over to one of the shelves, and rummaging through the books that were on there. ‘An old friend of mine was really into these legends, and he actually gifted me a book as we parted ways. Ah- yeah, this one’, he murmured, picking up what looked like a leatherbound notebook, although one a little more fancy at that. The green haired servant flicked through the pages, a concentration evident on his face, although he must have felt some emotion by being confronted by something like a parting gift from a friend that obviously meant something to him. He blinked, and kept his thumb on a certain page, before his eyes met Shuichi again. ‘When I looked through this again a little while ago, I realised something’, he spoke, perhaps a little cryptically, and Shuichi anticipated the moment that all would just be explained to him so he could collect his thoughts. 

‘Do you… know a specific legend about birds?’, Rantaro asked carefully, a brow raised as he leaned against the wall that was next to the shelf he had just looked through. Saihara thought for a bit, trying to remember whatever stories he had read so far, and only one thing came to mind, although that probably couldn’t be the thing that Amami was referring to. ‘Uh, I can only recall one, the one about a pair bond of birds. It was something like with the bat of a wing one of the birds could bring down an entire empire, but instead working together the pair let one herrise, if I’m not mistaken’, he commented, seeing the confident look that Amami gave him afterwards. ‘Exactly’, he noted, and Shuichi’s brows frowned a little now, as he looked at him in confusion. ‘But… that was a child’s tale, one that we were told when we were little to learn to work together and find a good person to end up with at some point in your life’. 

Ignoring the aspiring detective’s confusion, Rantaro continued what he was trying to say, his eyes glancing down for a moment at the book he was holding on a specific page. ‘It has a common image, do you know what I’m talking about?’. ‘Do you mean the two birds that form a circle together?’, Shuichi asked, humming as he tried to recall what exactly it looked like. ‘I know I liked the shape as a kid, it was printed on one of my school’s books’, he said with a sad sigh at the memory. Amami sighed softly as well, although his part in this wasn’t as sad but more a little as if a tense moment had left him for now, as he quickly went over to where Shuichi was sitting. ‘You might want to see this, then you’ll understand where I’m going with this’, the green haired servant told him carefully. 

The old book was pushed into Shuichi’s hands, and he took it carefully, not wanting to accidentally damage something that was probably dear to Rantaro. Even though he had told himself to handle it carefully, he almost felt like he was going to drop the book when he saw what kind of image was in there. 

The birds in a circle, attached by tail and beak, he remembered that correctly. The way their wings were out made it almost look like a circle that had a cross through it, although he decided that this may not have been a deliberate choice for the design. He was kind of shocked to see how much of it he could remember, but he was also shocked for the fact that he had completely forgotten something that now made his stomach feel tighter than before and made his mind overrun with questions. The left bird, it was a dark blue, the feathers very delicately drawn and carefully placed it seemed, beads of black eyes open only a little bit. But next to the left bird, the right one, was painted a bright purple. A Lavender purple. A Kokichi purple. 

Why he hadn’t remembered the colors, he would never know. He probably wouldn’t have found this important at all if he hadn’t been through the experience of fate tainting him with knowledge ever since he came this castle, either. But now, Shuichi couldn’t help but to close the book and hand it over to Amami, before clearing his throat quietly. ‘I… I think I’ll add some things to my notebook’, he stammered softly, his voice a little uneven, and with a pitiful smile Amami let him out of his room, as Saihara unsteadily wobbled back on shaking legs to his room, trying to figure out what this all could mean. 


	8. Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Shuichi was faintly aware of the fact that the storm outside wasn’t a great thing for the family and the castle, or the kingdom as a whole.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Long chapter! Again a time jump basically. I hope it's not too annoying, sorry-  
> I'm getting more and more insecure about my writing, so I'm really sorry if the story isn't going well or meeting your expectations.
> 
> Warning: referenced / implied abuse, panic attacks and swear words
> 
> As always, I'm too lazy to reread, sorry for any mistakes.

Fall was nearing around this part of the globe, and the harsh ways of autumn and begin september were definitely starting to show themselves off to the people in Lavender Kingdom. It started about four days ago, when the rainy clouds appeared and refused to leave from the citizen’s sights, reaching over the far lands of the whole kingdom and drenching the place in a sad little bit of water at the time. However, this rainfall became gradually worse, and the clouds became more and more, adding as if they were somehow procreating themselves. Soon enough the countryside with its many hills and paths made with sand and pebbles was drenched in the strangely smelling rain water, creating the muddy mess that had become the outside of the castle as it was now, and the people in the village didn’t have it much better; horses would sink with their hooves in the unsteady ground that was created by the constant falling of water from the sky, and kids were kept inside so they wouldn’t get some type of sickness and infect the whole family. Needless to say that the kingdom had become rather quiet at the moment, aside from the rhythmically ticking of water droplets against glass and now glossy windows and against the stone that the castle was made out of. 

It wouldn’t have been that much of a problem if the only factor that bothered them was the rain outside, but unfortunately, the weather didn’t work that way. Quickly the soft rain became a storm, and with the storm came thunder and lightning that came dangerously close to the small houses in the village, scaring its residents to no end. Some of the older folks weren’t precisely scared of the weather for its aftereffects, but more so for the history behind bad weather of the country; after all, everyone had heard the tales of the witch Enoshima that came to the castle during one of those storms, and only trouble came from that afterwards, at least as far as the villagers could tell. The displeased people of the Lavender Kingdom ceased their work, which included the farmers that weren’t really able to produce good food during these harsh times anyway, and it was a problem. Not only did the people inside of town have less to eat, but food that was send to those outside that had to take care of battles to keep the safety and peace inside of the walls became less and less. Everyone was a little on edge, and it was showing.

Shuichi sighed softly as he waited inside of the pretty grand space of a kitchen, leaning against the counter as he silently listened to the simmering of boiling water in the kettle that he had just put on a small fire to get the hot water he needed. He had only been inside of the kitchen that was preserved for the royal family once or twice before when he had to stand in for a sick servant that therefore couldn’t help cooking, and he had simply helped carrying around things, something that today he would again. With the bad weather came sickness, and there were already three servants and maids that had to stay in bed for the day, so hopefully there wouldn’t be more. Shuichi had heard that Momota, a guy he had spoken before, had a rather weak immune system, so it wasn’t that much of a shock that he as well had to stay in bed for the day. 

Fog from the heat that came from steam out of the kettle set on the big window in front of Saihara, which he was silently staring out of. It was rather late for them to be making dinner, actually, but things had been delayed, and now Saihara had to deal with that fact. Of course, the servants got to eat earlier than usual, but he kind of liked a schedule, although prince Ouma had shown before that a change in his ways wasn’t always a bad thing. The bluenette could focus on the harsh wind bursting against the cold stone walls, almost as if it were trying to rip through and rip into Saihara’s clothes. The castle was cold, after all, and Shuichi himself was one to easily get cold as well. 

Ever since his talk with Rantaro Amami, about Kokichi and about the stupid bird legend that he wished didn’t exist, he had felt a little strange about everything. Something had definitely been pointing at this being the right thing for him, almost as if a higher power was trying to tell him that he was at the right path for his future, although something felt a little off. It just felt.. too fake, the whole thing. Being with Ouma, that felt real for him, as if he was supposed to be by the side of the shorter male with the charming smile and the awful tricks and lies. But something about the castle, something about the people in there, it just felt a little bit off. Like he again was a person that didn’t necessarily fit in, although he couldn’t pinpoint what exactly was the problem. There was just this constant nagging in the back of his head when he would lay in his bed and listen to the storm outside, that something might go terribly wrong very soon, and he didn’t know if he was ready for something like that. But Shuichi had always been rather paranoid, and he knew that he was just thinking like this since things usually didn’t go his way for this long of a time, so he was scared that the happiness would soon be interrupted. 

The high pitched sound that the kettle made when the water was ready for him somehow didn’t manage to alert Shuichi too much, as he kept his head in his hands, leaning with his elbows on the hard surface of the kitchen counter. Warmth hitting his face was kind of a nice feeling in contrast to the usual cold feeling he had, and his eyes were fixed on the darkness outside of the castle. Sometimes a bright flash of light would shock him a little, the dark sound of a rumbling thunder creeping into his head and making him sigh quietly. He was happy here, happier than in his hometown, but for whatever reason he felt like something was missing, something wasn’t exactly right. It was a horrible habit of humans to always want more than they had, and he knew this, but he couldn’t exactly help it. 

A little weight set on his shoulder, and snapped Shuichi out of the dazy mindset he was in, looking over his shoulder and being met with the warm green eyes of the silver haired maid that was Kirumi Tojo. As usual she was in charge of the kitchen when the royals were to eat, since she was often left in charge of the duties of servants. ‘Is something the matter?’, she asked calmly, her voice polite and almost business like, although she definitely had a good heart somewhere in that stately body of hers. She watched over the other servants and helped out wherever she could, and if Saihara had to be honest, he admired her for this. 

‘Hm? No, ah, sorry. I was just thinking a bit too much’, the bluenette apologised as he reached out to the kettle, his left hand reaching for the tupper in which they held different types of tea so he could also bring that to the table. Looking around using only his touch since his eyes were focussed on not spilling the hot water over himself, it took him a little while to feel the rectangular shape that he was looking for, carefully moving it with his index finger so he could slip the thumb underneath, so he could pick it up. ‘How are the sick doing?’, he asked absentmindedly since Kirumi was still standing near him, taking care of cleaning off plates. The kitchen was fairly empty; maids and servants of the palace had a lot of work to do beside cooking now during this storm. 

‘Most of them are sound asleep. Fujisaki is doing a little better, but it’s best if he stays in bed for today’, Tojo softly explained as if she reported on her work, making Saihara smile a little bit; he could trust her to be truthful with him no matter what, since she felt that was her duty being a maid like she was. ‘I last checked in with him an hour ago, since prince Ouma ordered me to give the ones that were awake a cup of tea, hoping the warmth would help them, or at least I suppose that was his motive for the quest’, se finished off, tightening her apron a little bit, and stepping away from the sink. Shuichi was silent for a bit at this news, although a small smile played on his lips, no matter how strange he felt. He was convinced that Kokichi wasn’t a bad guy, whatever things Amami may have thought of him. He couldn’t be. He tried to seem dangerous, childish even and hard to please which he definitely was, but he did have a heart and he did care underneath all of those lies and tricks. Shuichi was sure of that. Still, he didn’t really have time to be thinking about things like these, since the royal family was waiting for their tea, so he had to hurry up a bit. 

Shuichi was faintly aware of the fact that the storm outside wasn’t a great thing for the family and the castle, or the kingdom as a whole. The normally calm and collected king showed many more signs of worry, as his sweet wife tried to calm him down with reassuring words every time she could. Having a rainy day wasn’t much of a strange occurrence for the kingdom, but whenever it would hold on for this long, it usually didn’t mean any good. The farmers had ceased their work but so did some of the healthy men that were send out to battle, giving up completely on their duty and putting the royal family in a nasty position. Despite the fact that there was simply not enough food being produced for those outside of the castle to keep them fit, as well the lack of courage the soldiers showed now had proven to be a big problem during their fights. Many losses had already started to ensue as a result. Parts of the kingdom outside of the walls that used to be safe roads for travelers up on the mountains were slowly being taken by towns and thugs that wanted more land to take care of themselves, and the people were getting closer and closer to the wall that protected the city. 

Due to the storm trading for food and any business that was outside of their country was at least delayed if not completely put a stop to. People didn’t dare to travel too far, at least the sane people didn’t, and it showed to be a great loss in the money pocket of the royal family. Sure, they had above average to spend, a _lot_ above, but that money had to keep flowing for restaurations on the village houses that weren’t built to withstand things like these and to keep their citizens happy without getting enough to compensate for that hole in the treasure box, it worked on the old man’s nerves. He was irritated, annoyed, and definitely frustrated by how little they could do to this ever since the weather decided not to work in their favor. If someone was a bit on edge, he definitely was the big example of this phenomenon, and sadly enough not only the servants but the queen and her son themselves had to feel his wrath as well. 

Kokichi was watching his father talk on the other side of the table, being at the head of the awfully long dining table as per usual. His face was mostly blank as he tried to not bring the annoyance he was feeling to the surface, listening to his old man speak. The guy wasn’t the same king that he used to know, that was for sure. Old age made the man’s temper shorten, and although usually he managed to stay quite sane, now he definitely seemed like he lost it; the tiniest things made him lash out towards the servants if not towards Kokichi himself, and it definitely was a bother. 

‘Maizono!’, Lord Ouma cried from where he was sitting, reaching out a somewhat shaking hand as he pointed with a glove clad hand towards where the purple haired prince was sitting. The maid was a little startled by his sudden tone, and stopped in her tracks. She had been ordered before to change some plates since the king wasn’t feeling like the porcelain she had picked, and now she was scared he would lash out again at him. Her eyes followed the pointed finger to were it was gesturing to. A napkin had been placed on the table close to Kokichi’s plate, which the boy held in his hands as he silently pressed his teeth harshly onto each other to avoid gritting them. ‘What are you waiting for?! Unfold it!’, Mr. Ouma basically roared over the soft music that was being played in the background. Lady Ouma had thought of that, hoping it would calm her husband down, but when he was in charge of battles that were being lost, it wasn’t good on his temper. 

‘I have hands myself, actually’, Kokichi spoke up, stretching out his arms and the fingers on both hands, wiggling them. ‘Oh, would you look at that!’, he chirped with a fake smile plastered over his face. ‘They even work! Great, a human body, isn’t it?’. The fist of his father that slammed down on the table, making the silverware jump up under the sudden shock, wasn’t what had Kokichi flinch. No, it was right then that a lightning bold followed with the loud roar of the sky hit somewhere near the castle, and it startled the guy, who cringed a bit as he looked down at his plate. ‘Kokichi’, his father spoke lowly, a dark tone in his voice, and his mother looked at her husband with wide eyes. ‘Come on honey, he was just joking around-’, she tried, but the glare the king send her had her shut up immediately, and she could only give her son a look of pity. 

‘You have been a bother ever since this dinner began. Is there something you need to tell us?’, his father asked almost coldly, his trained eyes on his son as he reached over and took a spoon of whatever soup he was having from the kitchen, ignoring the disapproving look his wife gave him. ‘I’m always a bother, that’s what you’re having me for, right dad?’, Kokichi joked a bit uncomfortably as he rested his head in his hands, leaning with his elbows on the table. Again the fist of the king slammed down onto the table, shocking most of the staff that was around. ‘Do not disrespect me’, he hissed, eyes darkening as he watched his son. The boy’s eyes however glinted in the soft light of a moon that was already starting to set outside, the mischief and need to do the exact opposite from what people told him to do too high to really listen. ‘Or what? Or you’re gonna send me to those childish little battles outside of the kingdom?’. 

‘Do not speak me of childish, you immature pig’, mr. Ouma raised his voice now as he spoke, which definitely wasn’t a good sign. Silently Lady Ouma was begging her son to stop this and for them to just eat in silence like they had before, but it was to no use. When he was challenged like this, Kokichi couldn’t simply give up. Perhaps it was the bad quality of his the servants despised; he wouldn’t give up, not easily at least, and if he went down he would bring those that did him wrong with him if he could. ‘Pig? Do ya mean what the people that are being slaughtered like outside of our safe little walls?’, he asked, taking the fork that was on top of the napkin that Maizono was still silently staring at, stunned into silence by these happenings. ‘I may not go outside very much, but I’m not stupid, dad’, Kokichi finished, throwing the fork up in the air and catching it with his other hand, annoying the man that was glaring at him. 

‘These battles are for our safety. The only reason you wish we didn’t have them is because you’re a coward that doesn’t want to partake in them’, the tall man grumbled towards his son, stabbing the knife in his set of silverware into the piece of meat he was going to have to eat later on. ‘Precisely, for _our_ safety. What about the dozen of citizens you’re forcing to take on a weapon and fight off people that are only trying to live as well, huh?’, Kokichi spat, his purple eyes getting a little duller themselves. ‘Be my guest and fight alongside them, if you please’, the king responded with a dark glare on his younger boy, whose blank face only told him enough about having the male cornered. ‘Except you can’t. Since after almost a whole lifetime of learning how to fight, you don’t even know how to properly swing a sword at someone. You’re a failure and a coward, Kokichi, and even your lies and tricks won’t change that fact’. 

With the flick of his hand, the fork that Kokichi was holding was thrown into the direction of his father, and just barely missed his head as instead it rammed into the glass window, only resulting into a small scratch on the surface as it was strong enough to make the piece of silverware bounce off of it. He saw that it at least startled his father a little bit, and his mother gasped as she put a hand in front of her lips. ‘Ah coward? Well, dad, since you _love_ the truth so much’, the male said, a smirk replacing the blank expression he had first, his eyes darkening. ‘The real coward here is the person that decided to change the rules and playing all the cards at hand simply to save his own skin, don’t you think?’. 

Before Shuichi could open the door that connected the kitchen to the royal dining room, he heard the commotion that was going on outside of there, and he pleaded in his head that this time it wasn’t Kokichi’s fault, so he could simply do what he needed to do in there and get out as soon as possible. Carefully since he was holding two seperate things, Shuichi used his elbow to basically press down the handle of the door and pushed it open carefully by walking with his back pressed to it, so he could turn to the royals as soon as he was inside. 

Shuichi stopped dead in his tracks, the door to the kitchen still wide open as he took in the scene happening in front of him, and the noise that he had feared he would hear before he had even entered the dining hall. He couldn’t focus on the words, or on the context, or even on the fact that the servants in the room were still playing music as if it was just another regular day in the royal household. All he heard was the yelling, from king Ouma to his son and back, and the desperate yelling of Lady Ouma for them to stop fighting like this. Even as he realised that Kokichi’s voice had faltered when he saw Shuichi enter the place, the king did not cease his raging, and Shuichi could feel his hands starting to shake a little. Not good. Warm water was trickling on and burning his hand, but his bit his lip harshly as he forced his feet to move his body forward. He would just need to drown out the yelling and pretend he was all alone in the room with no one around him, he could do that. He had to do that. 

Still, almost subconsciously he could make out what was being said as he let his eyes close for a moment and took a deep breath, before letting his eyes set on the destiny he had to reach; the teacup of the king. _Left foot, right foot, left foot,_ he thought to himself as he walked forward, flinching back a little bit when he heard the kings fist slam onto the table, and silverware fell from it, making loud noises as they reached the floor to lay there instead of on the napkin they were supposed to lay on. ‘-And you know nothing, boy, nothing!’, king Ouma yelled, standing up from his seat as he pointed an accusatory finger at his son. Shuichi gulped, closing his eyes tightly until he heard the man sit down after his wife requested so. _Left, right, left, right, you can do it._ ‘You come in here, stay in our castle because me and your mother have you dear, and what do you do to us? You make a mess! You’re good for nothing!’, the tall man still grumbled towards his son, that was gritting his teeth, definitely holding back from yelling at his dad. 

_His mother snorted as she leant back against the excuse of a couch, with big gestures. ‘As if! You are no help, boy’._

Shuichi shook his head, ridding himself of the memory, and he shakingly reached to the large table next to him, carefully placing the tupper which held different types of tea on the table so he could carry the kettle with two hands instead, even if it was a bit hot to the touch. Luckily the focus wasn’t on him. _Come on, left, right, just a couple more steps._ ‘And I know this is a touchy subject for your mother, but you must realise the staff loathes you, boy. You’re supposed to become a king someday, yet you can’t even keep your people in your favor’, his dad basically cursed out at his son that was watching the small lecture both with amusement and with hatred towards what was happening. 

_‘This village already hates you as much as they hate him’, she pointed out, raising a brow at him as her nose was tinted a light red from the amounts of alcohol that probably already were in her system._

Shuichi stood next to the king, his eyes set so harshly onto the cup that it may have broken were his stare an actual way to break something. With somewhat shaking hands he reached out, trying very hard to keep out the yelling and raising of his voice the king was doing. ‘Well, guess what’, he heard Ouma say, calming down a little from the fact that his voice was a normal pitch. The prince had been with him for long enough to realise that raising a voice and yelling made the aspiring detective very uncomfortable, so he was glad that the guy wasn’t doing those things and instead paid mind to his servant. ‘You’re not gonna live forever, old man.One day you and momma are gonna kick the bucket, and you’ll only have me to take care of the goddamn mess you left here!’, he sneered with a grin on his face, although it wasn’t a humorous one. The king grumbled, his eyes widening a little bit as he growled. Slowly but surely the hot water was being poured into his cup, although with the shaking of Shuichi’s hands, he had to make sure that it wouldn’t wet the tablecloth. 

‘Do NOT speak like that to your mother or I ever again, you!’, the man yelled indignantly. 

_Mister saihara dashed forward, catching the boy off guard as he gripped onto the collar of his dark grey shirt and hoisted him up in the air to the point he had to stand on his tippy toes so he could provide himself of enough air. His face must have paled quite a bit from the shock of this happening and the fact that his father was terrifying when he was pissed, because the grip on the rough fabric loosened a little bit for just a second only for him to tighten his hold a little while later and growl in the boy’s face. It was almost as if he was asserting dominance, and Shuichi hated it. He hated everything about it, how he was unable to do anything about this, and how he was going to listen to his parents eventually anyway. ‘You will never say no to your mother or I again, you hear me, kid?’, his dad hissed angrily, and with a soft gulp Shuichi nodded frantically, just wanting this moment to be over and to feel like he could breathe again._

A pathetic whimper left the boy’s lips as his hand shook more, and the kettle wasn’t under his control anymore. Without being able to stop it, droplets of boiling water spilled over the lap of the king, and with a shriek the man jumped up, pushing against Shuichi’s shoulder to get away. His balance wasn’t great in this state of panic, and he fell over, the kettle falling from his hands and landing with a loud thud that echoed through the room on the floor, hot water seeping into his clothes and burning the skin near his legs. ‘Useless!’, the man screeched, as Lady Ouma got up from her seat to try and calm the guy down. ‘All of you, all these servants, Maizono, Fujisaki, Saihara, useless!’, he growled angrily. 

‘Dad!’, Kokichi called out angrily, and at that moment the glasses that were filled with alcohol tumbled over on the table, spilling over the king and queen as well as over the tablecloth. Stunned to silence his old man got up from his seat. The prince himself got up as well and rushed to Shuichi’s side instead. The bluenette couldn’t even hear what was being said anymore, his head a blurry mess of thoughts. _I screwed up, I did it, I made a mess and now they hate me, they’re gonna send me back home, I don’t belong here._ ‘Calm down Shu, I’ll take you out of here’, he heard the soft voice of the prince murmur to him, as the boy turned to his dad. ‘You should be ashamed of yourself, that you can call yourself a king yet be this fucking useless, mister “king”. I’m going to my room, have fun throwing your pathetic little tantrum over losing petty battles and putting your people’s lives at stake’, the purple haired prince sneered harshly, shaking his head in disbelief at the man’s stupidity as he lend Shuichi an arm, and carefully brought him out of the dining room, even when his father would yell at him to get his ass back into the dining room and listen to his lectures like a real man or whatever his excuse was. 

With a loud sound the prince pulled the door closed behind them, drowning out the noise that was coming from the dining room where plates of food were still waiting for him, and placed a hand on the shoulder of the slightly trembling taller male, deciding not to speak as he carefully pushed him to move forward. His expression was quite troubled in contrast to his usual ability to mask his emotions, and it worried Shuichi perhaps a little bit, if he wasn’t still stuck in a panicked mindset at the moment already. He barely even noticed that he was being let up a floor, until he almost tripped over one of the steps on the stairs since he wasn’t really able to pay much attention, and he had to grip onto the smaller boy for support, who also leaned backwards dangerously before being able to grip the stair railing. 

A door was opened and a familiar scent that reminded the bluenette of the prince himself filled his nostrils as he shook his head a bit, to be conscious of where he actually was. He wasn’t surprised to the sight of being in Kokichi’s room. Well, not surprised in the sense that he had figured out as much as soon as Ouma helped him up the stairs that this is where the purple haired trickster aimed to take him, although he was confused as to why. After all, Shuichi messed up by accidentally spilling hot water over the table cloth and eventually over the king even. He should have probably been brought back to his own room so he wouldn’t bother the staff and the royal family for the rest of the evening. 

The soft hand that had been carefully pushing against his shoulder now continued to bring him to sit down on the prince’s bed, as Kokichi himself took a stop in front of the servant and looked down at him. Saihara decided to avoid his gaze, not sure how much of the judgement he would probably see in there he was able to take. Although to his surprise, Ouma didn’t start yelling at him like his father had done. He didn’t even scold him or anything. Instead, he placed his slightly warmer hand underneath the aspiring detective’s chin, and gently tilted his head up, so he had to look at Ouma. Still, the only thing he could sense from him was a strangely troubled feeling, which was weird considering the situation. 

‘Something is obviously up with you, ya know’, Kokichi hummed as he kept a deep gaze into the male’s eyes, strangely enough calming him down as well as making him more nervous at the same time. ‘And I’m gonna figure out what’, the prince finished, his lips pressing tightly together as his hand gripped the chin a little harsher, although it wasn’t painful luckily. Shuichi blinked, trying to avoid the lavender eyes of the pretty prince, and sighed quietly. ‘It’s fine; it’s nothing, I’m sorry for making a mess’, he muttered his apology, hoping that he would be forgiven by the smaller male. 

A slightly annoyed frown set on the prince’s face, and Shuichi’s own expression fell even more. Now he’d done it, he had pissed the other off, and he’d feel his wrath sure enough. ‘It’s not nothing, don’t lie to me. I hate liars’, he grumbled, making Saihara raise a brow as he lost the extra nerves he had been feeling before, carefully glancing up at the other guy again. ‘You’re a liar’, he stated the obvious, seeing a small smile form on the lips of Kokichi. ‘Correct’, he responded, before flopping down next to the servant, and sitting with crossed legs, pulling onto them with his hands. ‘I know it’s yelling you’re uncomfortable with, but why?’, he pressed then, apparently not letting the subject go. 

Shuichi gulped quietly at the blatant sentence, staring at his own lap instead as if it was the most interesting thing in the world. Shaking his foot a bit like he usually did when he was nervous, he bit his lip, and tried to think to himself about what to say in response to that. Still, he felt the prying eyes of the purple haired trickster burn into his skin, as if they belonged to be set on him, in a strange way. He wasn’t backing down. There was no _it’s alright if you’re not comfortable with sharing,_ no _I’m sorry for asking something so personal_ and not even a small _if you’re ok with telling me_. Only silence followed, a patient silence in which Ouma kept his mouth shut and waited simply for Saihara to speak up, non verbally forcing him to just come out and say it, since he wasn’t going to change the subject for him. 

‘It’s just…’, the bluenette started uncertainty as he blinked, lashes trying to hide the eyes of his that had seen quite enough, but being unable to do so. The lights flickered down at the boy, and he felt as if he was standing in some twisted type of spotlight, having to open up about something that lay as deep and as harsh as the truth did. But sometimes the truth just had to be like that. Sometimes he prefered the sweet lies over the truth, the sweet lies he told himself about how everything was fine and used to be fine as well. Perhaps that is why he didn’t judge Kokichi too much for spicing his life up with lies; after all, everyone lied at least a little bit. Ouma was just very aware of this fact, and used it in his own way. 

‘...My parents haven’t always been great. They… would yell at me, and whenever someone yells, I just… I get uncomfortable’, Shuichi muttered, ducking his head in shame. A soft pressure formed on his shoulder, and he realised that prince Ouma has scooted to sit closer to him, since his head was now resting on the taller male’s shoulder. Saihara’s eyes widened and the skin near his cheeks reddened, but he didn’t say anything, since the gesture was oddly comforting. ‘They yelled at you?’, Kokichi asked with a soft voice, his eyes no longer focussed on Shuichi but instead on the mirror that was hung on his wall, perhaps eyeing around the room as he did so. ‘..Pretty much, yes. Whenever I would do something wrong. My mom, she just yelled or said nasty stuff. But my dad… well, he’s intimidating, is all’, Shuichi murmured as a response, pressing his lips tightly together afterwards like the prince himself had done. It was strange to talk about this, since he hadn’t said a word about it towards anyone else. 

Ouma’s arm squeezed around the lower body of the bluenette, holding him in almost a possessive way, which made Shuichi relax into the touch slightly for whatever reason. ‘They… they hurt you?’, he asked, his voice quivering a little bit, which was strange for the boy. Surely he didn’t really get emotional, definitely not when it was just about words. Although Saihara was perhaps mistaken; maybe he simply heard it wrong. ‘No- well, at least.. my mom didn’t’, Shuichi said no louder than a whisper, his voice a little hoarse as he had to close his eyes for a moment to take a deep breath. ‘If I… if I screwed up really badly, my dad could get a bit physical’, he murmured afterwards, hearing the sharp intake of breath from the purple haired prince. The flickering of the lights around them only worsened as he finally saw the reflection of Ouma, realising it wasn’t sadness that was on his face. It was anger. 

‘I’m gonna kill that bastard’, the male spat as he got up, the lights flickering more dangerously now, and Shuichi’s eyes widened. He could hear the storm outside worsen if it wasn’t bad already. ‘Ouma-’, he tried, but the boy turned to him, giving him a sharp glare. ‘The fucking- the fucking _audacity_ ’, he snickered humorlessly, his hands balling into fists at his sides, as he gritted his teeth quite noticeably. The angry glare was enough to shock Shuichi into backing off for a moment, although he quickly shot up in defense as well, standing in front of Ouma. ‘Wait- that’s in the past now, alright? I’m here now, so, so I’ve been doing fine. Alright?’, Saihara tried carefully, grabbing onto the purple haired prince’s hands. The tenseness in his body slowly subsided, and the lights calmed down as well. 

‘That was a lie! Nishishi! You were _scared,_ Saihara-chan!’, Kokichi mocked him with a big grin on his face, the evidence of his angry moment just seconds ago completely having disappeared by now. Even so, Shuichi knew what he saw. He saw the expression, the anger, and it could not have been a lie. It couldn’t have been. Still, he decided to let him have this way to save his skin, and didn’t mention it anyway. 

It was only getting later and later, and Saihara felt himself being quite tired from the events of today. Having to take over some tasks wasn’t that much of a problem, but emotionally he was definitely spent, and ready to leave now and simply go to bed if he could do so. Still, he stopped himself as he heard the loud thunder roar outside as another flash of lightning was visible through even the closed curtains of the large window that Ouma had in his room. Strangely enough, although Shuichi only flinched a bit from the suddenness, Shuichi could notice the lavender and sweet scent that always hung around the prince get a little duller as he jumped up slightly, his expression shifting from the happy grin into wide eyes before he forced the usual blankness back to it, and his hands grasped at each other behind his back. Everything about the boy’s halfway hidden body language screamed that he was tense, and Saihara was curious, if he had to be honest. A little bit of rain tapping against the male’s window couldn’t be the cause for him to get this startled after all. 

‘Is something the matter?’, Shuichi asked carefully, tilting his head a little like he knew Kokichi did at times, however it was only out of curiosity to see what he would find. Pressing the subject would perhaps not be a very good idea, since Ouma still basically stood above him being a prince and heir to the throne after all, but it proved itself not to be necessary anyway. The purple haired trickster raised a brow and placed a hand on his hip as he shifted his weight to his other foot basically, a played confusion on his face. ‘Huh? What are you talking about, silly! Aww, Shuu-chan, are you worried about me? How cute- ah!’, he jumped up a bit with a loud shriek as a sudden loud crash of thunder sounded through the castle, something that also managed to startle Saihara a bit. 

Folding his arms together over his chest, the ears of the smaller guy turned a bit red as he looked away, not wanting to meet Shuichi’s gaze this time, embarrassed. ‘Fine. I don’t.. like.. storms’, the boy grumbled out, almost spatting the words as if they were poison on his tongue. For some reason, the thought alone made Saihara smile a little bit. There was something human to the male, after all. He was scared of something, just like everyone was scared of something. ‘Oh really? I wouldn’t have known’, Shuichi teased softly, earning a harsh glare from the other which made him snicker quietly to himself. ‘Very funny, Saihara, you’re very funny’, Kokichi snarled at him with a huff. 

‘Alright, I’m sorry’, Shuichi said softly, hoping that he sounded genuine enough, although the prince only blew a raspberry at him before folding his arms over his chest again, like the mature person he obviously was. Still, yet another flash of lightning with the matching thunder sounds entered their vision, and Ouma cringed a bit as he sat down on his bed. ‘I just, dream about things like this is all. Storms are nasty things, it’s fine if I don’t like ‘em’, he excused his fear with a small scowl. Mentioning the fact that Enoshima Junko was the one that made him fear storms, simply because she would return and return in his nightmares every time wasn’t necessary. 

Shuichi thought for a bit, rocking on his heels as he did so, before he came to a stop. ‘You know what?’, he started with a confident hum, smiling a little as he looked at the prince. ‘I can stay here until you’re asleep. Would that help? It is very late, after all’. The boy had seen before that Kokichi had a chair in his room, so if he would just sit in there and watch over Ouma, perhaps he would feel a bit more comfortable having to sleep through the storm. Kokichi blinked with a puzzled look on his face, as if he hadn’t thought of the possibility himself that Saihara was willing to stay in his room if it granted him at least a bit of comfort. ‘You… would do that?’, the purple haired male asked carefully, not sure whether or not the bluenette was lying, which was strange to him. Usually he could easily tell, but it seemed like the servant hadn’t lied. That couldn’t be right, though. 

‘Of course. If it’ll help you sleep’, Shuichi nodded, no lie detectable in his voice, and it made Kokichi feel a little strange inside. His stomach felt light, although he had eaten fine, and it made him bite his lip a bit. It wasn’t a bad feeling, he figured. ‘Okay’, he hummed in response, folding his hands together as he looked at the blue haired servant, the care in his eyes making the strange feeling return. 

‘Alright! Uhm, you can change into your pajamas, I will need to use the bathroom for a little bit first, if you don’t mind?’, Saihara asked permission basically, to which the prince nodded and gestured for him to go on. When Shuichi wasn’t in the room anymore Kokichi changed out of his attire, taking a bit longer than necessarily since he had gotten a little lazy from being dressed by someone else every morning, opting for the larger and soft white shirt that he usually wore to bed. He hopped onto the mattress, humming quietly to himself as he felt the satisfying soft fabric of his covers underneath him. Kirumi had picked them especially to his liking, something she definitely deserved to be called the best maid in the kingdom for. It tended to be a little cold in the big castle, so he was glad that the blankets would keep him warm. He knew some of the servants were a little more unfortunate, so to say. 

As Kokichi was finished Shuichi conveniently returned, closing the door to the bathroom behind him and walking to the side of the bed, basically looking over the purple haired boy that was sitting down, pillow propped up against the headboard as he was waiting for Saihara to return. ‘I’ll turn off the light, alright? So you gotta lay down’, the bluenette told him, and Ouma rolled his eyes. ‘Alright, alright, you’re not my dad’, the boy complained, although it was pretty obvious he was just trying to be a little shit since he actually didn’t care too much and complied, fluffing up his own pillow as he lied down and let his head rest against it. 

Shuichi went over to the nightstand where he had kept certain candles, and blew softly, getting the fire to extinguish pretty quickly. Slowly but surely the lights in the room dimmed, until Kokichi was left in complete darkness. Moving himself by touch, Saihara found the chair that had been in the prince’s room, and sat himself in it. ‘Goodnight, prince Ouma’, he spoke up softly, hearing the boy’s soft breath. Although; it was a little rapid, now he paid attention to it, and it made him frown a little. ‘Sh-shu?’, a somewhat strained sounding voice of the prince called out, making Saihara frown a bit more, as he felt his chest tighten a bit. It sounded sad, almost, and it made him feel bad in the worst way possible. He got up from the chair, feeling around until he could feel a bedpost, and in that way moved a bit through the dark room. ‘Yeah? I’m still here, don’t worry’, Shuichi muttered softly, coming closer to the breathing noise of the male, hoping he could reassure him at least a little bit. 

Without a warning, a warm hand had wrapped itself around his wrist, and harshly the male was tugged forward. Shuichi fell into the bed with a small ‘oomph!’, as his belly hit the mattress, his arm slung over the body of the prince, making his face turn a little red. Now he was lucky that the lights were off. ‘You go sleep as well’, Kokichi said, the fear that had been in his voice completely gone and instead a teasing tone had taken over, indicating that he had played the fear he showed before. Shuichi blinked and felt the heat rise in his cheeks, making him gulp quietly. ‘Uh, what?’, he murmured, sitting up, although it was no use. Ouma’s arm reached over and pushed him by his chest back onto the bed with a displeased and somewhat tired noise. ‘Did I stutter?’, he asked, the way he said it making Saihara giggle quietly. Something he didn’t know, was that the giggle of the bluenette was perhaps Ouma’s favorite sound, so he didn’t mind at all. 

‘...Alright’, the servant gave in, carefully kicking off the jeans and the vest he wore, instead staying in his undergarments which he used as pajamas for this time, hearing the happy hum that came from Ouma as he turned his back to the male. The king size bed was big enough for the both of them, so it wouldn’t be much of a problem. Still, Saihara felt a little strange that he was sharing a bed with one of the royals, although the sleepiness that was overtaking him the longer he stayed in the comfortable bed made him care less. He as well turned his back to the prince a little bashfully, feeling the covers move a bit, and the soft fabric rubbed over his skin. Shuichi himself used to be a little cold, but he could easily feel the heat that radiated from the purple haired prince, and it made him smile comfortably. ‘Goodnight, Kokichi’, he muttered, fairly sure that the guy was asleep. 

‘Goodnight, Shuu’, was what he heard back in a whisper, making him blush a little as he realised that Ouma had heard his given name from the blue haired servant, and didn’t comment on it. 

Kirumi Tojo was left in charge of the mess that had been made in the dining room earlier. With a determination that one could often find in her she washed the remaining plates and cups, drying them and placing them in the cupboards to which they belonged. Sleep never came early for the woman, although she knew at what times to lay in bed so she would be extra fit the next day to return to work. Being a maid was something she truly adored; she loved being able to take care of things and to make the royals happy with her services, so it wasn’t a problem that the castle was now gradually getting more silent as the other servants went to go sleep as well as the king and queen. Who knew where the servant Saihara could be at this moment with prince Ouma; the two were strangely affectionate towards each other, even if they didn’t exactly notice it yet. 

Kirumi dusted off her gloves, smiling a bit as her work in the kitchen was done. She would only need to bring the tablecloth to the washing room now, and her job would be done for the day. Moving open the doors gracefully, she folded the tablecloth in a way that she wouldn’t dirty herself too much while carrying it, using a candle in her left hand to keep her way lighted so the rest of the castle could stay asleep peacefully. The walk to the washing room wasn’t that exciting. After all, Tojo knew the ways from the castle almost with her eyes closed, her feeling changed well enough for her to know where she was in the big place at any given moment.  
  
She felt a little upset for having to leave the work up to Sayaka and Chihiro if they were to work again the next morning, but she also supposed it couldn’t be helped; she simply wasn’t the only maid in the castle, and others had to do their duties as well. Fixing her hair a bit, she exited the washing room and stepped silently through the halls, not wanting to disrupt the peace that she was feeling in the castle. The dangerously alarming peace, if she had to be honest. 

As she was walking through the halls in the dark, her eyes shifted over the paintings that hung on the ceilings. When she had first came here, which was a long while ago, she had dreamt of them being burned, and it had always scared her of the fate that would possibly come to these pieces of art. Art was to be admired, after all, and admire it she did. Even if the colouring was a bit off due to the dark haze that the castle was wrapped in at this hour, she could still distinguish the different works from each other. Needless to say she was a little startled when she reached the main hall, and heard rather loud knocks on the door.   
  
A bit shocked, the woman turned her body towards the large front door. Afraid she may have heard it wrong, Kirumi stayed in place for a bit. Soon after, the knocking returned, showing that she definitely wasn’t imagining things. ‘Who could that be, during this storm…’, she muttered softly to herself as she held the candle in her hand and used it to see the door handle better, calmly opening the yet to be locked off door. 

A figure wearing a dark hood and therefore being somewhat protected by the rain stood behind the door, shivering visibly. ‘Hello?’, Tojo spoke up carefully, holding her breath afterwards. Even if she wouldn’t show it, she was a little on guard around strangers, always. ‘Oh, hello!’, a voice spoke up, which caught her off guard. It was a female voice, not very deep, and not really remarkable in any way, although it sounded rather sharp for some reason. ‘What are you doing out there in the storm, miss?’, Kirumi couldn’t help but to ask as she stepped back a bit, the wind that was coming from outside too cold. The lady let out a troubled sigh. ‘Well, I am a simple traveler, you see. I couldn’t find any other place to stay at this hour, but I thought I saw a light moving inside of the castle, so I took a gamble for it’, she responded. 

Tojo, that had been taught to treat guests with hospitality, bowed down a bit to the stranger. ‘Very well then. You are welcome to stay here, and I will inform the king and queen of your appearance in the castle soon’, the grey haired maid told the woman, opening the door for her to step in. Although her cloak was soaked in water, she still didn’t sound like she was shaking from the cold weather outside, and instead let out a delighted giggle. ‘How wonderful! How plain wonderful!’. Now the door was closed, she pulled off the hood that was over her head, to reveal deep blue locks of hair and a face with glasses placed neatly onto it. ‘My name is Tsumugi Shirogane, nice to meet you’.


	9. Not Yet

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘What’s wrong?’, Shuichi asked carefully, finding a good shirt and pants that fit it well, keeping the clothes neatly folded as he placed them on the edge of the bed next to where Kokichi was sitting. ‘Hm? Nothing’, Ouma responded, kicking his legs a bit. ‘You now seem like a real servant, is all’, the purple haired trickster added as he yawned quietly and twirled a strand of the purple locks of his hair around his finger in a bored fashion.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Sorry for the late updates! It might take longer for me to write the individual chapters now, since I want to be sure that I'm ok with the way the story is going. Please remember that I'm writing this for fun, so if I need a little more time to get over my writers block than usual, I'm sorry, but it can happen. 
> 
> Warning: Some gore, swearing, the usual.   
> It follows the last chapter, but I think that's pretty self explanatory when you read it.
> 
> Did we re-read this? Nope. What's new.

Shuichi hummed quietly as he was gently woken from his slumber by the sound of raindrops tapping softly against the outside of the window in the room, a small amount of light managing to slip past the curtains and entering his vision subconsciously as his eyes fluttered open, to keep themselves halfway closed lazily. He wasn’t sure when the last time was he got a full night of good sleep, one that didn’t force him to wake up early because of his work here at the castle. Back when he lived at his old place when he wasn’t a servant yet nights hadn’t been easy either, but that was for completely different reasons. Back then he didn’t have to worry about whether or not he had cleaned the cups right and if he didn’t make a mess of his work, but more about trying not to get involved in a hate crime or making at least enough money to have food on the table the next day. 

Now his limbs were more relaxed than they had ever been due to the good quality of the bed he was laying in, the mattress soft and dipping in a bit where he was laying due to his weight. Covers were covering most of his skin up until the middle of his back, but he wasn’t necessarily cold, his undergarments also helping in that regard. Next to the tapping of water there was a soft ticking sound of a clock, and he could feel himself drown in the joined orchestra of domestic noise. 

There was a bit of weight on his lower body that he couldn’t immediately identify, although it wasn’t really a concern for the sleepy boy either. No, it wasn’t a problem at all: the warmth that was pressed into his back was quite pleasant actually, and he couldn’t say he didn’t feel most comfortable like this. Even if he subconsciously realised that wrapped around his waist was an arm and over his body was possibly draped another limb, the hazy state made him smile a little at the homely gesture, and his eyes fluttered shut again. It felt right, the bit of pressure to his skin, and the presence of feeling a soft breath against the back of his shoulder, while he could feel a chest rise and fall against his skin. So with no complaints he nuzzled his face further into his pillow as he let out a soft sigh; even though his night sleeping this time had been fine, he still felt tired being just woken up. But perhaps he didn’t need to get up yet. Maybe he could just relish in this protective and comfortable embrace for a little longer. 

It didn’t take that long for the figure behind him to stir a bit, as soft strands of hair moving against his back tickled lightly and had him hum unhappily. The arm that had been wrapped around his waist moved a bit over his stomach, a careful gesture of kindness almost, and the tickling almost didn’t matter anymore. ‘Morning, Saihara-chan’, a somewhat groggy voice behind him muttered, drowned in sleepiness and the tones of the early morning. The head of the culprit was pressed against his back as it seemed like he nuzzled his face more into the male, groaning quietly. It was too early, at least to get out of bed. Maybe Shuichi could stay like this all day. He wouldn’t mind, surely. 

‘hmm… morning’, Shuichi mumbled softly, turning a bit and feeling the leg unwrap itself from him as he looked through his lashes, noting the purple locks of hairs sprawled on the pillow next to him now that the warmth was basically untangled from him, and for some reason a small whine left his lips for this. ‘Ouma-kun’, he added to the statement, bringing his hands up to his eyes and rubbing them softly. 

His movements stilled immediately, and his eyes opened, a little wider than before. He could feel his chest moving more rapidly than before, and even in the still somewhat tired state of mind the locks of purple hair were visible to him. ‘P-prince... Ouma…’, he repeated quietly, blinking once. As the male raised his head a bit, and bright yet tired purple eyes met his gaze, Saihara could feel his face turning red. It just dawned on him what situation he actually found himself in at the moment. 

Immediately the blue haired servant shot up from the bed, no matter the fact that he had just woken up. He had been talked into sleeping in the same bed as Ouma the day before, although it didn’t take much convincing for him to agree. Still, laying in the king size bed with the heir to the throne wasn’t exactly the problem. The problem was that he had no idea what time it was, and he prayed to whoever was out there that would want to listen to him that the servant that came to wake prince Ouma up each morning hadn’t entered the room yet to walk in on the sight that was the occurrence this morning. Definitely since in his sleep the purple haired prince apparently was a cuddler it seemed. Saihara couldn’t deal with the rumors that were already going on anyway to escalate because of the sight, and with a small scared squeak he quickly gathered the clothes he had thrown off of himself the day before and put them on. 

A soft groan sounded from behind him when he was struggling to swiftly button up his pants, and he glanced over his shoulder at the smaller guy. Kokichi was still laying down, turned to face Shuichi and a small scowl on his face although his eyes were still closed. His arms were outstretched and he made grabby hands, childish enough to make Saihara snicker softly even in the situation they found themselves in at the moment. ‘C’mback here’, the prince grumbled, his voice nagging and almost an impatient whine. The bluenette blinked and straightened up a bit, turning his back to the male. ‘You need to wake up, prince Ouma’, he warned him without complying to what he was saying, closing his vest and using the mirror that was in the room to fix his hair at least a little bit. 

Kokichi again muttered something snarkily under his breath as he pulled up the covers up to his ears, cuddling more into the bed and not picking up on the soft sigh that left Saihara. When he was half asleep like this he wasn’t great to deal with, it seemed. ‘That’s an order, get your ass back here’, Ouma slurred out, ‘ ‘m cold’. 

The blue haired servant huffed and rolled his eyes as he straightened his collar a bit, checking if he looked too much like a mess from the clothes having lain on the floor the whole night. ‘Put on some clothes then’, he retorted to the male, the grumpiness in the early morning making him not care too much about defying orders right now. He was sleeping anyway. If Kokichi was fully woken up he would probably regret saying that stuff as well, although apologising wouldn’t happen, since Ouma wasn’t really one to apologize. At least not that Saihara knew of, since he hadn’t actually ever apologized to him before. Through actions he had shown that perhaps he did care what Shuichi thought and how he felt, but his words failed to tell him this. Hiding emotions was his forte, yet he couldn’t always seem to control himself. It was pretty interesting to the aspiring detective to take note of, but it could get quite dangerous in some situations. 

It seemed to do the trick; Kokichi slowly sat up, and rubbed his eyes. His purple hair was more unruly than usual, a serious case of bedhead apparent. ‘Ugh, Saihara-chan’s so mean in the morning!’, Ouma complained, folding his arms over his chest and keeping his curious gaze on the other that betrayed the annoyed tone. Still, he didn’t fail to make thick tears roll down his cheeks. ‘Y-you’re so mean! Waah!’, he cried out, gripping onto the sheets that still covered his lower body. ‘Stop whining’, Saihara responded, looking through his closet, and stopping himself from rummaging through it. He stepped through the room, still seeing the prince’s gaze on him, as he opened the curtains and let the faint light that the outside gave them enter the room fully. 

Clouds still hung in the sky heavily like the day before, grey and keeping the air a bit darker than usual as well. Tiny spots of water on the glass informed Saihara that it was indeed still raining, like the soft noise that was being drown out by Ouma’s fake cries did as well. ‘Well, it’s still raining, but the weather isn’t as bad as yesterday’, Shuichi spoke up, biting his lip softly before he turned to the prince. ‘That probably means you’ll have to continue your sword training again today. I’ll pick out something that’s easy to wear’, he told him. Quickly glancing at the clock he noticed that it was rather late in the morning already, so he had to be quick if he wanted the prince to arrive at the dining room to have breakfast with his parents soon enough. He could only hope that other servants had yet to enter the room and were just a little late today. 

Walking back to the closet and looking for some of the what simpler clothing that the prince had, he noticed that the male had fallen silent, and looked over his shoulder, glancing at the boy to see if something was wrong. He was already looking back at the bluenette, and it made Saihara blush a little bit, even though his expression was completely blank. ‘What’s wrong?’, Shuichi asked carefully, finding a good shirt and pants that fit it well, keeping the clothes neatly folded as he placed them on the edge of the bed next to where Kokichi was sitting. ‘Hm? Nothing’, Ouma responded, kicking his legs a bit. ‘You now seem like a real servant, is all’, the purple haired trickster added as he yawned quietly and twirled a strand of the purple locks of his hair around his finger in a bored fashion. ‘Is that a bad thing?’, Shuichi asked with a small yet nervous smile, folding his arms together loosely and watching the other with interest as he picked onto the sleeves of the shirt that Saihara had chosen for him. ‘I…’, he mumbled, eyes focussed only on the shirt. It was almost as if he was trying to avoid Saihara’s gaze, and like he was kind of at a loss of words, which was strange for the usually very quick witted prince. ‘No, it’s not a bad thing’, he finally replied, although it seemed like he wanted to add something.  _ It should’ve been. But it’s not. Why are you different?  _

The blank expression on his face was replaced by a bright smile as Ouma hopped up from the mattress, landing on both his feet on the soft floor. ‘Well then, Saihara-chan! I’ll go figure this out, you can go and have lunch with the other lame servants. Out, out out~!’, the male chanted as he pushed the bluenette by the shoulder to the door, making Shuichi chuckle softly. ‘Alright. I’ll see you outside during your training’, he promised the prince that nodded and closed the door swiftly as Saihara was outside of the room. The servant only shook his head with a soft sigh, unable to pull a small smile from his face, for whatever reason. 

With quick strides of his legs now he realised that he was a little late he made his way to the dining room that was used by the other servants. As he entered the door he noticed that he wasn’t the only one, luckily, although Tojo did give him a somewhat curious look. ‘Good morning, mister Saihara’, she told him as she held a plate out for him, which he gratefully took. ‘G-good morning, I’m sorry for being so late’, he quickly apologized with an awkward smile at the woman, although she offered him a reassuring nod of the head. ‘It is quite alright. I do hope you enjoyed yourself’. Although it was a little strange wording, the bluenette shrugged it off to her being a polite person and always speaking like that, so he thanked her for the breakfast and made his way to his usual spot. Fortunately for him, it seemed like Chihiro and Rantaro were also eating at the moment, so he still had his “ _ buddies _ ” to sit with, so to say. 

‘ _ Good morning Shuu-chan~’ ,  _ Chihiro smiled brightly at him, a strange twinkle in his eyes as he sat and drank some of the water he had gotten in a cup from the kitchen part of the room. ‘Morning, are you feeling a bit better?’, Saihara asked calmly, deciding not to scold him for the use of name this time since he couldn’t bother to make Ouma change it anyway either. He had heard that Fujisaki had been sick the day before, so he was glad to see the brunette up this morning. ‘Yup! Although I’m still a little tired, but anyone would be in this weather’, the male responded with a small nod, before leaning over the table a bit and resting his head in his hands as he watched the blue haired servant with interest. Amami shot him a warning glance, but the brunette didn’t quite see. ‘So, how are  _ you  _ feeling, Shuichi?’, he asked, putting emphasis on the you with a strange type of smile, something that the boy had not yet seen on the other. 

Shuichi scratches his arm a little awkwardly, looking down at the plate of food he had gotten from Kirumi. ‘Uh, I’m feeling fine, thanks for asking?’, he responded to the question, although it was more a question in itself. ‘Fujisaki, that is quite enough’, Rantaro spoke up somewhat softly as he held his own empty plate in his hands, looking at the smaller male that pouted a little bit. The bluenette cleared his throat as he eyed the green haired servant a little suspiciously, seeing the male meet his gaze with faked innocence. ‘Uhm.. what exactly is the matter?’, he asked carefully, blinking as Rantaro’s ears turned a little more red at the tops. Although, when a thought made its way to Saihara’s head, his eyes widened a bit and he realised that perhaps he didn’t actually want to hear the answer to that.  _ Wasn’t Rantaro the servant that usually wakes prince Ouma up every morning?  _

‘So, how was it?’, Chihiro asked with a bright smile as he leaned over the table more to the somewhat personal talk, and Saihara could only feel how quick his cheeks heated up. Amami shook his head and basically facepalmed himself. Apparently they had talked about this before. ‘Wh-what?!’, the bluenette squeaked out as he could only imagine what exactly the brunette meant with that. Definitely didn’t sound suspicious or anything. He cleared his throat, lowering his head a bit and thinking of what exactly to say to safe his skin. ‘U-uh, I don’t know what… you mean, Chihiro’, he opted on eventually, coughing softly into his fist. He noticed the apologetic look that the green haired servant send his way, but didn’t comment on it. The boy giggled softly as he still smiled ever so brightly, clasping his hands together to his chest. ‘It’s fine, Saihara-kun! Your secret is safe with us’, he followed that with, hand to his lips and his voice in a more hushed tone. Both Rantaro and Shuichi were red in the face, probably for different reasons. 

Well, he knew, that was at least as far as the blue haired servant could deduct from this. And who else knew, he would probably find out soon enough. He kind of hoped that Amami had only told Chihiro about the situation since they were eating breakfast together, and not that he made it a big announcement to the whole staff. It didn’t really feel like Rantaro was the type to brag about his findings like that anyway, but you could never know of course. ‘Uh… what  _ exactly _ do you know?’, Shuichi muttered softly so the other couple of servants that were still around wouldn’t hear. His leg was shaking a bit nervously underneath the table, so he was glad that not everyone would be able to see that anxious habit. ‘Well, Rantaro saw you two cuddle’, Chihiro whispered excitedly, ignoring the glare that the green haired servant send his way. ‘You swore secrecy…’, the male mumbled a little defeated, sighing as it only made Fujisaki snicker softly. 

Although he found himself in a tough situation, and he probably should have been more cautious, Saihara could only smile a little bit in response. His friends seemed to get along better, even if it didn’t seem much like it; there was a strange type of fondness to their act, and if Chihiro didn’t at least trust both of the guys he probably would have kept his mouth shut, at least for as far as Shuichi could tell. It was kind of nice really, now he thought about it. ‘Ah, well’, the bluenette mumbled, scratching his head a little sheepishly still. ‘... I uh, have nothing more to add to that’, he nodded once to confirm his own story, and the smile didn’t leave his face as he heard the brunette complain a bit. 

Saihara squeaked quietly as he suddenly felt a strange amount of pressure against his leg, and shoved his seat backwards, only to be met with the deep green eyes and white fur of... ‘Destiny! You startled me’, he chuckled awkwardly, reaching down and letting her nuzzle her head against his hand. He had almost forgotten the fact that the cat could roam around the whole castle for herself, but the servant dining room is as well where she would get her food, so of course she would be here. Chihiro hummed softly as he finished drinking from his glass, and he nodded towards the cat. ‘She’s been trailing around us all morning’, he told the male, that listened with curiosity. Patting his lap, it didn’t take long for Destiny to jump up there in a swift, almost elegant motion. She rubbed her body against the hand that Saihara kept towards her, and the male smiled, almost purring himself from the cute animal. Sweet animals were a weak of his, sadly enough. 

‘I hope she wasn’t too much trouble to you two’, Shuichi said a little embarrassedly, as the cat flopped down onto his lap and kept her paws outstretched over his legs, although luckily her nails were sharp so Saihara didn’t feel too much of it. ‘Well, I almost tripped over her’, Amami spoke up with his usual deep voice, although there was a hint of amusement to it. The blue haired servant blushed a little and cleared his throat, petting the cats head that was purring contentedly as she lay in his lap. ‘S-sorry’, he mumbled sheepishly, sighing softly. The cat was his responsibility after all, even if prince Ouma had basically forced him to have it since he saw that the boy was a bit attached to it. He couldn’t have her interrupt the work of the servants, or do things like that. Saihara was pretty sure that his reputation among the staff would only go down more this way, and he wouldn’t want a repetition of what happened in his hometown, where everyone actually loathed him. 

‘It’s fine! The kingdom livened up a little since she came along’, Fujisaki confessed, the genuity in his voice reassuring Shuichi enough to drop the subject and apologies. ‘I’m glad to hear that’, he hummed in response, stretching out his hand to pet the white fur of the small cat again. She looked up at him, raising her head a bit from where she was laying, big eyes almost seeming to stare at the male. Shuichi stilled his movement before he could touch the cat, and blinked at her. The green eyes of the small cat looked almost concerned, and it made him frown a little bit. He kept his hand still even when she moved to stand up on his lap, stretching her small limbs, before… moving her head forward, and sinking her teeth in Saihara’s finger for a small second. 

‘Ouch! Hey!’, Shuichi gasped as he pulled his hand back, staring with confusion at the cat. Destiny simply looked back at him, calmly sitting down and moving her tale almost a bit impatiently. Those eyes that held the intelligence of the cat still pried into his skin, and Shuichi gulped quietly. Something wasn’t right. She hadn’t bitten anyone before, surely. As he carefully reached out to pet her again, simply to check if  _ he  _ was the problem, she allowed him to, and nuzzled his hand like she always would. Then with a swift motion, she hopped off his lap, and walked back to the part of the kitchen where she could eat. 

The bluenette was stunned to silence for only a moment, before he shook his head and decided he was looking too far into things. Surely, it wasn’t a warning from the cat. It was just a pet, after all. He had almost forgotten that he probably needed to eat his breakfast a bit quickly, since prince Ouma would be waiting for him outside. He had told him he would come to his sword training after all, and Saihara wasn’t one to give his word unless he would be able to do so. Pulling his plate towards himself, he quickly ingested the food he needed to go on for today, and stood up from his place. ‘Uh, sorry, I gotta meet prince Ouma somewhere’, the servant excused himself towards his friends. Amami only put his thumb up towards him with his left hand as he used his other to hold a cup of coffee he was drinking, and Chihiro smiled sweetly. ‘Have fun!’, he called after him. The implication of that made Shuichi sigh softly and shake his head, although he didn’t confront the other, and instead left the dining room for servants almost as quickly as he had entered before. 

He could see other servants, such as Kirumi that had left the room just before he had, rush through the palace halls to try and get everything they were ordered to do done. The fact that it wasn’t completely storming anymore but just raining already made work feel a little lighter, and he hummed quietly to himself as he stepped through the different halls to the door that would lead him to the garden, ignoring the sometimes curious and other times annoyed eyes that were set on him where he walked. It was already ten times better than the hateful glances he got send back when he lived with his parents, so it didn’t matter all too much, although it was still a little sad he again felt like some sort of outsider. 

He greeted the gardener Gonta when he saw the male tending to flowers outside, wearing some type of cap to help him against the rain it seemed, which was strangely wholesome to see. In the corner of his eye as he made his way towards the open spot in the large garden that served for the training spot of Ouma, he saw the familiar locks of purple hair, and it made him involuntarily smile a little bit. The prince had his hair tied back, and it seemed like he had been outside a little while, since his hair and his clothes were somewhat wet already, and he was complaining towards the Pekoyama woman that was his teacher. Her greyish silver hair that had been in braids before was now pulled back in a bun, making the strangely red eyes she had come out better. She was more dressed to the occasion; although Kokichi didn’t forget to put on the chain mail shirt, he wasn’t wearing anything else to cover him up well for the rain, so the clothes that Saihara had picked out for him that morning were already getting a bit soaked. 

‘Saihara-chan! You’re late!’, Ouma called out towards him as he waved his hand dramatically at the servant that chuckled quietly to himself at the sight. ‘Sorry prince Ouma’, he responded softly, going to the small bench that he had sat on before to watch the male. He wasn’t exactly wearing something weatherproof either, but considering that he was always a little cold already, it probably couldn’t do too much damage. The prince basically came towards him with a small jog, disregarding the long sword he was holding on the neatly mowed grass next to him, ignoring the displeased look that Peko gave him. He was panting a bit when he arrived near Shuichi, which meant he probably already had done the beginning exercises with the woman. He wiped some of the locks of hair that were too short to be tied back from his forehead as they stuck to it due to the weather, and smiled at Shuichi. ‘Nah, a sorry won’t do. Get on your knees and beg for forgiveness’, the male told him sweetly, the smile turning into an innocent grin. ‘You wish’, Saihara responded with a small smile, for some reason getting a funny feeling in his stomach as the boy pouted dramatically and pretended to be mad, only to ruffle his hair in a way that definitely should have annoyed the servant. 

Pekoyama was calling for him to stop stalling and start his training, so the trickster groaned loudly and told Saihara to watch him get it this time although he sounded just as unsure as Shuichi was over that statement. ‘Coming, coming, stop whining!’, Ouma called out to the lady that rolled her eyes as she handed him the weapon he had been holding before, and Saihara snickered quietly as he watched them. 

The woman was quick to dash forward with her weapon, supposedly to learn the quick witted prince somewhat of a lesson, and in no time was he laying on the muddy ground that had been rained dirty by the awful weather all week. The boy let out an  _ oof  _ as he braced himself on the grass with his hands, cringing as he glared up at the smug looking girl. ‘Someday I’m getting you down in the mud as well’, he told her. She only pushed the glasses she wore back on her nose, and shrugged at him. ‘I would love to see that day, my lord’, she responded a little smugly again, letting out a tiny laugh when the male basically threw a tantrum on the ground. She wasn’t as composed as she tried to look, it seemed. Kokichi used the moment to jump up from the floor and wrap his arms around the lower body of the woman, trying to push her over. However, he hadn’t calculated the fact that the grass was slippery, and although she was standing fairly balanced, he slipped however, and fell back down, definitely bruising his knees. Pekoyama looked at him, still amused, as she pricked the end of the sword into the armor he was wearing. ‘Good try’, she told him, sighing softly. ‘But bad execution. Get up. You’re trying again’. 

Shuichi could only lean back a bit as he crossed his legs when he sat, perhaps a bit feminine-ish so, but that didn’t matter too much since no one seemed to be paying attention to him anyway. He was fairly glad already that the king and queen didn’t come outside in the garden that often and definitely not when it was raining, since he wouldn’t have known what he would’ve told them. They seemed nice before, sure, and they had been kind to him, but the events of the day before made him anxious to meet with the king again. He obviously wouldn’t be his  _ favorite  _ servant, to put it lightly. And Saihara wasn’t feeling like getting send home now; it would be too unfair to have him being around these nice people and in this comfortable place, only to rip that away from him again and send him back home. He shook his head a bit at his own thoughts, not wanting to think like that any longer, and deciding to focus on Kokichi again in stead. 

Although the prince wasn’t exactly in his element with fighting, which was obvious to anyone who would look at him during the act, he was slightly getting more into it as the training was going on. By now he had already been pushed to the ground three or four times by the woman that tried to teach him the art of sword fighting. Still, he managed to fend her blows some times as well, defending himself long enough for him to slip aware from her side even at moments. He was swift, and he was flexible it seemed, but every time he would try to make a move and swing his sword at her, it would be at the moments that she could easily defend herself, and in that way he was never able to actually get a win out of it. Still, even though he wasn’t really skilled in the fight, it was interesting to see for how long he could keep up the dodging and sprinting away from Pekoyama. In another life he could’ve very well been some type of thief, Shuichi thought. It would perhaps even suit him. 

Shuichi was shaken out of his strange fantasy thoughts as he saw Pekoyama swing her own sword with ease, and actually knock the weapon that Kokichi was holding out of his hand. The purple haired prince groaned softly as he realised his sword had landed near bushes, and sped off to go and get it, of course with Peko on his tail. As he arrived at the bush that basically separated the open spot where he would fight from the garden where Gonta worked, he wanted to immediately dug down and grab a hold of his weapon again, although a certain sight made him stop in his tracks. 

The garden itself was pretty as usual of course, even if the flowers still held small raindrops and somewhat of damage from the storm that had been going on. Gonta had definitely managed to clean up a bit, and it looked better than it had right when Ouma had arrived, so it was no surprise to see he had his well deserved break. Close to bushes of certain flowers that Ouma never bothered to learn the name of, but the pink and orange tones in them he did find slightly interesting, was a neatly made table with three chairs placed around it. As well was there a sort of parasol above it now, which probably was a handmade one by Kirumi, since usually the outside table didn’t need something like that. Now, since it was raining, it was a fairly logical choice. He could see that tea had been made, which wasn’t a surprise either, since oftentimes people found themselves asking Tojo to make tea if it was nasty weather like it was today. The thing that was a shock however, was the third person that was sitting there, which was neither Gonta not Kirumi, and no other servant either. No, there sat the blue haired girl, enjoying a chat with the two servants with a cup of the warm beverage in her hands, that Kokichi had seen before when he was at the local street market with Shuichi. Tsumugi Shirogane. 

Something inside of the male snapped as he saw the sight of the woman that had gotten on his nerves so easily chatting so happily in contrast with the two servants around her, seemingly about nothing. The same face with betraying expressions that definitely weren’t real now that Ouma focussed on them made the male grit his teeth as he glared at the group of people. How dare she, how  _ dare  _ she come here after the strange shit she had pulled when she had Shuichi is some sort of strange trance during the street market, and act like she hadn’t done anything. Kokichi, now fed up with the fact that this woman was actually here, as well as knowing that she definitely wasn’t good news and probably knew too much about him himself as well for comfort sake, wasn’t really paying attention to his fight training anymore. 

Still, from the corner of his eye he noticed the silver blade that was shimmering a bit due to a bit of sunlight beaming down at it through the clouds, where Pekoyama had sneaked up on him during his moment of being distracted, probably to teach him a lesson. The metal was moving, as Peko was making the blow she was planning, and without a second thought Kokichi put his hand out to try and stop it. A choked cry left his lips as the sword pierced the skin; it was sharp enough to cut into the skin, but too blunt to leave a big wound luckily, so although it wasn’t out of pain but more out of the shock of having a sword cut into his hand that he made the strange noise. With a shocked face, Peko drew back the sword and let it fall to the ground now as well, holding out her hands defensively. ‘My lord, I did not mean to actually harm you!’, she quickly tried to apologize, although Ouma wasn’t necessarily listening. ‘Forgive and forget, don’t you think?’, he said absentmindedly as his gaze was set on the group of three that were having a small little tea break in the pretty royal garden, droplets of crimson red dripping down from his hand onto the grass underneath him. As he swiftly got up and rushed to the table where the other three were sitting, he didn’t even notice Peko’s slightly confused expression, and the fact that Shuichi had seen it happen and was trying to think of the best way to convince Kokichi to come to the nurse with him. Neither did he notice that where the droplets of blood had fallen, the grass started to get scorched, leaving a grey-ish dead type of the greens behind on the ground. 

Although he was keeping his blank expression on and was fairly silent while walking towards the table, Kirumi, Gonta and Tsumugi very soon saw the male walk their way, as well as the red liquid that dribbled from his skin. He pointed at the blue haired woman, almost aggressively so, and paid no mind to the wound. ‘What are you doing here?’, he asked with a hiss, seeing the girl smile innocently making his blood boil. Kirumi swiftly got up from her seat and stepped away, bowing to him a little. ‘Oh my, I will inform the nurse of this’, she told him, before with long strides of her legs speeding to get inside of the castle. The purple haired prince himself couldn’t bother to call her to come back. Gonta’s eyes as well widened as he saw the male, and he stood up from his place. ‘Oh no, Prince Ouma! Can Gonta help? Gonta very worried!’, he spoke out loudly, the fear evident on his face. 

Shirogane however was completely calm, her calculating glance not showing any evidence of her real emotions, except for the caution she was taking. ‘Worry not, Gonta’, she said, her voice soft and gentle as a kitten’s, although Kokichi could definitely sense the sharpness of a cat’s nails behind that. ‘I am sure that the prince’s plain wound will be fine. You know what they say; For every stone there is a bit of skin!’. 

_ ‘Powerful yet cruel is he designed to rule, yet do not forget. For every stone there is a bit of skin, and for every flower there is a part of him’, Enoshima finished in a whisper, sinking her nails into the skin. _

Kokichi’s eyes widened at the reminder of the dream that had been haunting him ever since he was small, as he glared at the woman, stepping forward towards her. Gonta scratched his head as he looked at the blue haired lady, pushing his glasses further onto his nose. ‘Sorry, Gonta does not know saying’, the gardener apologised, bowing his head down a bit almost in shame. Tsumugi laughed happily at him, gesturing with her hands that it was okay. ‘That’s alright, sweet Gonta! You’re not smart enough to get it anyway!’, she told him with a happy sigh, folding her hands over her chest and batting her eyelashes at the green haired male. He looked back, a bit dumbfounded, and seemed to be at a loss of words for a moment. It was probably confusing to him how sweet that sounded, yet how nasty the comment had been. Still, he gave her a hesitant smile in return. ‘Thank you, lady Shi-ro-gane’. ‘Don’t thank me yet’, She responded with a sly smile, only making Ouma grit his teeth more. 

With a rapid motion, Kokichi’s hand shot forward, and grabbed onto the collar of the shirt that the blue haired woman was wearing. It was an impulsive action formed by the pure confusion and anger he already felt towards the woman that apparently knew a lot more than she was letting on, and it quite shocked the purple haired prince himself, but being shocked might have been the least of his worries at the moment. Only a spark of amusement lit up on the girl’s face, and if she didn’t piss him off before, she certainly did now. ‘ _ Who are you?! _ ’, the purple haired male snarled into her face, trying to keep the blankness of his own expression but not managing to do so. 

Gonta gasped softly as he had needed a moment to asses the situation, and stumbled forward from where he was sitting, holding his hands out defensively. ‘No! Ouma, this is not how to treat a lady! Be gentleman, like Gonta! Not harshly treat the lady!’, he panicked as he tried to pry Kokichi off of the girl, but stopped in his tracks as he saw the dark glare that Kokichi send his way. The damp and grey sky only turned darker, and the pleasant smell of flowers around them turned sour as Ouma’s skin almost shook from how worked up he was. ‘I’m the fucking prince, Gonta’, he spat at the male that took a shocked step back at his words. ‘I’m the heir to this stupid throne. I can do whatever the fuck I damn please!’. Gokuhara, upset and shocked at his words, left the scene quickly, possibly to get help some way. This gave Kokichi the time he needed to turn towards the woman again. ‘Who. Are. You?’, he repeated, almost spelling out the words as he pulled onto the collar of her shirt, not caring whether or not she could properly breathe. 

Tsumugi didn’t seem phased at all, which as well was a red flag to the prince. Her blue hair, that was moving with the wind, the strands tangling yet never turning into an actual mess. It did almost elegantly so, as if the woman hard full control over it, and Ouma hated it. With a hum, she attempted to get her glasses further up her nose by moving the bit of muscle in there, and succeeded, smiling a bit at the impatient growl that left Kokichi’s lips. ‘Well, you see. I go by many names, prince Ouma’, Shirogane chirped. Her smile faltered a little bit as the other hand of the prince gripped onto her throat, yet she did nothing to stop him. Placing her hands on the both of Ouma’s lower arms, She chuckled, a little strained so. The red nails that Kokichi had noticed before dug into his skin a little bit, giving him flashbacks of the dreams, and his grip on the woman loosened slightly. ‘Someone as plain as I am… just doesn’t seem too dangerous, don’t you think?’, She asked him in a teasing tone, even though she was at a disadvantage. The purple haired boy wanted to respond, sure, he was ready to grip her only way of getting air closed, but something stopped him in shock. The lack of light that was still managing to trail his attention to the flowing hairs, definitely did something strange. The ends of the strands seemed to turn… a light shade of pink, and it made him freeze up. 

They both looked at each other in silence for a bit, as the impossible was shown to be possible. With a tug of wind, the glasses that the woman wore flew off her face, and landed in the grass next to a bush of roses. She batted her long eyelashes at the male that was looking at her as if he had just seen a creature of hell on earth, which perhaps was the truth. The grin that formed on her face, sharp teeth that Ouma could definitely remember, made him want to puke. 

However, everything seemed to be over when someone called the prince’s name. Tsumugi’s hair turned back to normal, and her eyes seemed like they actually needed the glasses now. ‘Prince Ouma?’, the purple haired trickster could hear the voice that he’d probably recognize anywhere now, and he felt himself calm down the slightest bit. Shuichi Saihara entered the area of the garden where they both were, and stilled his movement completely when he was met with the sight in front of him. With a grunt, Kokichi let go of the woman’s throat, and stepped back, turning towards Shuichi. ‘Hey, Saihara-chan!’. 

‘Don’t just  _ Saihara-chan  _ me, what’s going on?’, the bluenette asked, frowning a bit as he looked at the woman. She shrugged a bit, as if she didn’t know so either, and instead the aspiring detective opted to ask the liar himself, although he was whistling softly to himself as if he had no idea what he was talking about. ‘...Do I know you?’, the servant asked suspiciously as he eyed the blue haired girl. She returned a small smile, and again shrugged her shoulder. ‘Perhaps’, was the cryptic response that he got back. The scent of flowers around him turned a little sour again, and Saihara could feel a cough coming up in his throat. Still, Kokichi turned to face him with a big grin on his face as he gripped onto the servant’s shoulder, and started to tug on it. ‘C’mon, you gotta bring me to the nurse, Shu-shu!’, the prince whined impatiently, and for the sake of his own sanity, Shuichi complied with a soft sigh and a  _ I can’t believe I put up with you  _ whispered to the boy as he followed him into the castle, while Ouma himself seemed to be in a hurry. 

As soon as they were safe inside of the castle, the purplenette’s smile faltered however. He turned to Shuichi, a serious look that startled the male on his face, as he leaned up and gripped onto his chin, tugging him to look down. ‘Listen to me. That woman is bad news’, Ouma told him carefully, a strange demanding tone to his voice. Saihara blinked at him, and gulped quietly. ‘I.. can’t explain right now why she is, but you gotta believe me, Saihara’. The blood that was on Kokichi’s hand still dribbled onto the floor, although most of it had dried up already. ‘O-okay, I believe you’, Shuichi responded, a honesty in his voice that helped the prince calm down a bit. ‘Promise me you’ll stay out of her way’, Kokichi asked, although it wasn’t really a question, but more a demand. Again, the blue haired servant nodded obediently. ‘Uh, okay, I promise’.    
Ouma let go of his face, and instead gave him a bright smile, booping the somewhat startled boy on the nose. ‘Good boy!’, he basically teased, before gripping onto his arm. ‘Now bring me to the nurse, I’m gonna faint and you gotta carry me!’. That was probably a lie, but still, Saihara got somewhat worried for his health, the worries of the request that Kokichi had made about the blue haired lady as well taking a toll on him, so he rushed him to where he had been asked to bring the prince anyway without complaints. 

Neither of them noticed the slightly glowing carpet behind them, where the red innocent droplet of blood had hit the rug, starting a strange chain of reactions. However, a polished shoe was quickly pressed onto it, calming the red warm heat that would have formed otherwise. Pushing her glasses back on her nose, Tsumugi Shirogane sighed softly as she moved her foot to stomp out the remains of what Kokichi had left on the floor. 

‘Not yet’, the blue haired woman muttered to herself, smiling a bit as she folded her arms over her chest, a bit proud of herself. Still, this proved that it was working, and she couldn’t wait for it to be time. ‘Yeah… not yet’, she repeated to herself, before retreating to the room she had been granted in the castle for the time being. 


	10. Suspicion

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I think that trusting prince Ouma’s judgement might be a good idea’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Wow that was a swift update. Anyway, more in the next chapter, but I had to basically divide it into 2 because it became a bit too much. 
> 
> Trigger warning: metioning of suicide, and manipulation

It had been a little while since the arrival of Tsumugi Shirogane, which Shuichi eventually learned was the name of the blue haired woman that claimed to be a traveller and now stayed at the castle basically, and the royal family, or at least the king and queen, seemed to be quite happy with and attached to their new guest. It wasn’t often anymore that travelers from whichever places would come and stop by the castle, mostly in fear of the unknown since not everyone knew what was going on in the safe-looking castle walls. Before the heir to the throne was born it was a bit more occasion for Lady Ouma to have guests over and throw parties for the people from town, however with Kokichi’s birth, this only became an annual thing during the woman’s birthday. The king and queen, but mostly Lady Ouma herself, seemed to be happy with the new company that had been invited to eat alongside them many times, which Shuichi was fairly sure irritated the prince himself to no end. The male kept reminding the bluenette of the fact that Shirogane was not to be trusted, even though he didn’t seem to approach her very often. It was more like he was ignoring her whole existence. He couldn’t really tell her to go away, after all; that would be impolite, and his parents already weren’t too happy with him as it was. They seemed to be in two minds about Shuichi himself as well, but he could only hope that with time the both of them would forgive him for the small blunder he made during his panicked state. 

Shuichi had brought Ouma to the nurse the couple of days before, and the encounter had been a little peculiar. The nurse herself, who was apparently called miss Tsumiki, was a little bit of a clutz and needed the bluenette’s help fairly often to reach things. Still, she had been talented enough, and from the cut that had been in Kokichi’s hand from the sword was almost nothing left but a small visible line. Shuichi was just glad to see that the male wasn’t suffering too badly and could still use the hand just fine, even if the purplenette would call him cute for worrying like that, in a teasing way. 

During the time of Tsumugi’s stay, the servant hadn’t really seen much of her. So now and then he could spot her in the garden making friends with the gardener Gonta in perhaps a little strange ways, but the sweet big man didn’t really seem to notice this. She seemed to be particularly interested in the lavender flowers that were outside of the castle, actually. Occasionally as Shuichi was on a break from his work, and Kokichi didn’t order him around to simply be around him either, he would lean into the big window and take in the sights outside. There he would oftentimes see the queen and the blue haired woman walking and watching the countryside, most times kneeling down next to the lavender flowers. Lady Ouma was probably a bit flattered for her to be so interested in the flowers that basically granted the Lavender Kingdom its name. Shuichi wasn’t sure why, but it gave him an uneasy feeling how coldly Tsumugi could watch over the castle, or pass through the halls. He avoided her, like Kokichi had told him to do, since he trusted him, in a kind of twisted way perhaps. Even though he was the biggest liar one could ever come across, Shuichi would rather trust him than anyone else he knew. Like he had said, since he isn’t to be trusted, he is easier to trust. It’s funny how life works out sometimes. 

Anyway, since the arrival of the guest, the queen had seemed a bit more lightely than she had during the beginning of the storm. And now, out of nowhere, she had planned to throw another party that wasn’t meant for anything but to get closer to the people that lived in their village again. It was as if the blue haired lady had enchanted her, and Shuichi really hoped that wasn’t the case. He could only handle so much talk about witches and things like those, more of that he was sure he wouldn’t be able to handle.

The party would take place the next day, and one of the ball rooms they had upstairs, the one with the beautiful chandeliers that Shuichi had gazed upon once or twice upon, would be used for it. The servants had a lot to prepare. The fact that there would be a party at all had been announced fairly late after all, only giving them a day in advance to prepare for everything, as well as the invitation which was for all the people from the somewhat higher class of villagers that had to be send, which was taken care of right at the moment. Now, Shuichi was sitting in the servant dining room with a bowl of whatever breakfast Kirumi had decided to make this time, and with the obvious order to finish up swiftly so he could go and help Ouma out. Although the king and queen didn’t seem to be too happy with it, the prince still made sure that most of the orders he gave were for Shuichi and Shuichi alone. It was kind of a sweet gesture, even if the orders were a little questionable at times. 

Their “ _ guest of honor”  _ had requested to eat with the servants this day, which was perhaps a bit of an uncommon request, but Tsumugi had explained that where she was from it was customary to do so when being a guest of honor. It was to pay her respects for the king and queen, at least, was the story she had told the two royals. The aspiring detective himself couldn’t be too sure. If he had to take Kokichi’s word for it, she could be lying, but not just for fun sake. He could only guess that the woman was dangerous when Ouma would tell him she was, since he didn’t see him as the type to be able to hold up a lie for that big an amount of time. After all, it wasn’t just Kokichi that seemed to be troubled by the blue haired lady. Rantaro Amami himself had commented on her suspicious behaviour before towards Saihara, only confirming the fact that something was up with her, even if they couldn’t know what exactly. 

And of course there was the thing that Shuichi felt like he had seen her before somewhere, but he couldn’t exactly recall what or where it was. Whenever he tried to think of it, his mind turned blank, like a part of his memory had been cut out of there deliberately. It was a scary thought, but as soon as he came to it, he couldn’t help but to feel at least a little bit paranoid. So, with a little bit of trembling hands he tapped rhythmically on the table, seeing the green haired servant’s eyes were on him. Chihiro hadn’t shown up to breakfast yet, which was a little strange for the brunette, since he usually turned up to their small meetings in the morning as one of the first. Despite someone who apparently learned him how to schedule things the boy hadn’t told the both of them about any other friends, so besides having already gone to work at the washing room with Sayaka, Shuichi wouldn’t be sure what the male was up to. If he had to be honest, he was even more worried now that he realised that Shirogane wasn’t here yet either. 

Deciding to try and calm himself down, he softly spoke up towards Amami. ‘You know…’, Shuichi started, seeing the male sip on his coffee seemingly unbothered, although there was some strange sense of him being on guard as well to it. He kept tapping his fingers to the table to irritation of some servants around him, although he couldn’t really cease the nervous action now he just got into it. ‘Prince Ouma actually warned me about.. the guest’. At some point of the bluenette and green haired servant working on something together, they nonverbally decided to refer to Shirogane as the guest towards each other, so their conversations could be a little more secretive in a way and they’d feel less like the other servants were able to know what exactly they were on about. Perhaps it was just a hunch the both of them had.   
  
‘Oh? You haven’t mentioned this before’, Rantaro noticed, interest evident on his face as he leaned forward a little bit. Shuichi shrugged a bit in response, leaning back and letting his eyes roam the room a bit. The others around didn’t seem like they were really paying attention to their conversation. ‘It didn’t seem like an appropriate thing to just drop on you before’, Saihara muttered, folding his arms over his chest. He could only imagine the confusion that Amami must have felt had the male pulled this on him before. He only seemed to be a bit suspicious of the woman himself since a day or two, although the blue haired servant wasn’t sure yet what event had triggered this change. ‘I could’ve handled it’, Rantaro retorted probably truthfully, with a small smile of his that made Shuichi smile back a bit, even though he was feeling anything but happily relaxed at the moment. ‘I don’t doubt it’, he replied. He did doubt it. He would’ve told him right at the beginning otherwise, after all. Still, something like that didn’t need to be said. He supposed that Ouma’s lies were kind of infecting him now. 

‘Anything else I might need to know?’, Amami asked in a somewhat teasing tone, showing that he didn’t hold it against the other for not telling him so sooner. It was a kind gesture, and Shuichi did appreciate it. He shrugged softly, and bit his lip. ‘Well, not really. Ouma just told me that she might be dangerous, and that I should stay out of her way’, he told him quietly, even though the other servants didn’t seem to be listening in. It was better to be safe than sorry. ‘Are you sure that the prince isn’t just playing a prank on you?’, Rantaro responded a little uncertainty, placing his hands on the table as he leaned forward a bit. ‘After all’, he continued, a strange glint in his eyes as he said this with a strange kind of fondness to it, ‘he tends to do things like this, simply to get a rush out of it. He likes messing with people, you know’.

Shuichi was silent for a bit, as he thought back about the moment. Kokichi had gripped onto his face, and his own usually expressionless or strangely amused face was changed into a more worried and demanding one, brows furrowed a bit although his purple eyes were wide and filled with concern. He had made him promise that he would stay out of the lady’s way, under whatever circumstances. It didn’t seem like a joke then, even though Ouma was the master in lying. He could’ve just tried to make Shuichi feel unsafe in the castle to get some strange type of kick out of it. It wouldn’t be the first time for him to do something like that. But still… ‘I trust prince Ouma’s judgement’, the bluenette told the other servant with a confident nod. 

Rantaro hummed with a soft chuckle, resting his head in one hand as he used the other to absentmindedly and pointlessly stir his coffee with a small spoon that he hadn’t bothered to take out of the cup yet. ‘Even if you know how much of a liar he is?’, the green haired servant raised a brow at him, although it wasn’t a judging tone in which he said it. More a curious one, maybe even a little bit amused. He was unpredictable as always it seemed. ‘Do I have to repeat what I already said?’, Shuichi asked in response, hoping the certainty in his voice would be the hint for Amami to know he was really serious. He did trust prince Ouma’s judgement. He  _ wanted  _ to trust him after all when things really mattered. Even though he was the purple haired prince’s servant, he liked to think that they had some type of bond, even if it was a little strange one at that. Still, the smile at Rantaro’s face only grew a bit, as he raised his brow again. ‘Oh? You must really like him to trust him that unconditionally, hm?’, he asked, his voice a little louder than before. Shuichi’s cheeks reddened a bit as his eyes widened and his hands shot out as a  _ no way -  _ gesture. ‘Wh-what?! What is that supposed to mean?!’, Saihara cried out a little defensively, his face only turning more red as he saw the eyes of some curious other servants set on him now. Before Rantaro could respond in probably an even more troubling way, the both of them were interrupted in their conversation. 

‘Hey, I’m sorry for being late!’, Shuichi heard the voice of Fujisaki call out to them almost excitedly like he always seemed to be around them, which was kind of sweet now he thought about it. However, as he looked up with somewhat of a happiness he usually felt being around his friends, his face fell a little bit, when he noticed that Chihiro wasn’t alone. Almost stuck to the left side of his body was the one and only woman that Saihara had promised the prince to stay away from, and upon meeting her gaze, a strange glint formed in her eyes, one that made Saihara feel utmost uncomfortable. 

‘I was just talking to miss Shirogane outside, and decided to ask her to sit with us, is that alright?’, Chihiro asked carefully, eyeing the two other servants. For all he knew the both of them were just a little picky with who they wanted to sit with. Still, the hopeful expression on the male’s face made both Rantaro and Shuichi unable to say no to him. It was like kicking a puppy, saying no to the boy when he was excited like that, and Saihara hated himself for not being able to be harsh to people like him if it was for a good purpose. The blue haired woman pushed her glasses further on her nose, eyeing the brunette next to her. ‘Please’, she said, her voice soft and smooth as always, sounding like music to those around her although it was a bit unnerving to Saihara in any case, ‘call me Tsumugi’. 

The both of them sat down, Chihiro next to Shuichi and Tsumugi next to Rantaro, which was right in front of the blue haired servant himself. Although Fujisaki did take food with him, it seemed as though the strange woman did not, and she was simply sitting there with a cup of water placed in front of her, nothing else. It seemed as though Amami had also noticed this, and he cleared his throat softly. Perhaps he was a little suspicious too because of what Shuichi had said to him before. It seemed he trusted the prince’s judgement more than he let on as well. ‘Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, you know’, the green haired servant commented carefully as he eyed the woman, that only giggled softly in response, although her eyes were sharp and a bit dark upon hearing this. ‘Oh well, our opinions differ on that subject then. I think breakfast is plain boring’, she responded. Her voice was a little strained and it made Saihara think about just how true the sentence may have been. 

Although the two males were pretty uncomfortable in the presence of Shirogane, Chihiro himself didn’t seem to mind it much. He laughed softly instead, folding his hands to his chest. ‘I think miss Tsumugi has some interesting thoughts, don’t you?’, he asked out loud, an admiration evident in his voice which made Saihara gulp a little bit. He didn’t want to stomp on the poor man's heart, after all. The twinkle in Tsumugi’s eyes, a strangely amused one as she eyed Shuichi for whatever reason, was a little off-putting. ‘Don’t you?’, the woman repeated, batting her eyelashes at the other innocently. It may have seemed like a strange type of flirting to any outsider, and that thought made the bluenette himself only feel more on guard. ‘Sure’, he replied, keeping his voice dry enough for the woman to know that perhaps it weren’t his real thoughts, as well as pleasing Fujisaki with the answer. 

‘So… where are you from?’, Saihara asked, changing the subject. His uncle was in the detective business of course, and one of the things he had learned from him is the more questions you can ask the suspect before they realise they are actually a suspect, the better, since they will answer more freely that way. ‘Everywhere and nowhere’, Tsumugi replied casually as she leaned back into the chair she was sitting in. ‘I like travelling lots, you see. Finding out about different countries and kingdoms, it’s just plain interesting’, she smiled. Shuichi hummed, leaning forward and studying her face perhaps a bit recklessly, but she didn’t comment on it. ‘I mean, where do you originate from, so to say?’. It was a little harsh, but since Chihiro didn’t seem to question his questions yet, he figured he was still safe. ‘Ah well, there’s this lovely village called Lilly Town, it’s outside of the country, close to the sea, you probably don’t know it’, she waved off, although her movements stilled a bit when she heard Rantaro clear his throat. ‘Really? How interesting, I travel a lot, and I’ve never heard of that place before’, he told her. It wasn’t a really subtle gesture, but still Fujisaki just laughed softly. ‘Come on boys, do we really have to ask her all these questions?’, he asked, nudging Shuichi’s shoulder as the boy was still intensely glaring at the woman in front of him. 

‘It’s fine, Chihiro! I don’t mind! I quite like the attention’, Tsumugi giggled softly as she placed her head in her hands and kicked her feet underneath the table, hitting Saihara’s shin only once and not apologizing for this fact. ‘Well, how’s the castle so far?’, Chihiro spoke up, with an actual interest to know the answer simply because he thought Shirogane was a delightful person and he was kind of interested in her. She had spoken of dresses and things like those to Fujisaki, and it had reminded him of when his friends would help him find clothes that he could use to hide the fact he was a male with, before he was more comfortable with not being that masculine but still identifying as a guy. ‘Oh, really pleasant! The people here are nice, very helpful’, she commented with a small wink towards Shuichi, which made the servant’s skin crawl. ‘My room’s good too. I slept well, I must say. Although the castle as a whole… could use some remodeling, if you catch my drift’, she laughed softly, throwing her head back a little bit. Chihiro snickered softly as well, since the castle was a little old fashioned and stately, so he could understand the ideas the woman had. ‘What are you planning?’, Saihara blurted out as his hands gripped the table, knuckles turning white a bit from the tenseness in his body. The fact that he wanted her to be oblivious to his knowledge of the fact she was dangerous was disregarded by the boy. 

‘Planning? What do you mean, dear Saihara?’, Tsumugi asked, faking an innocent look and batting her lashes at the male again. ‘I’m sure he didn’t mean it like that, right, Shuichi?’, Amami spoke for him, sending him a small glare, and Shuichi gulped softly, nodding in response. He had gone too far with suspecting the woman; she had only said some cryptic stuff, and his suspicions had made him more paranoid about her. ‘No, no, I’m interested’, Shirogane silenced the both of them with her words, almost like they were being spat out. There was a demanding tone to them, and it made Saihara very uncomfortable. The whole way the woman acted did, actually. ‘What kind of plan are you referring to, Shuichi?’, she asked again, her tone demanding. The words wanted to leave the boy’s throat, but he only swallowed them down again. 

Swiftly as he wasn’t paying much attention to her anymore but more on her words, she reached over the table and took a hold of his hand. Her hand was cold, colder than his own was, and the red nails that were on them almost looked like claws, yet he couldn’t find the will in himself to shake them off. ‘A plan to defy fate, perhaps?’, she asked, with a soft smile. The bluenette himself shook his head, trying to sit back, but it felt as though he was made of stone. The other eyes were surely on him, and this must have looked highly inappropriate, but there was nothing he could do about it. ‘Or are you scared I will be able to steal your love away from you, is that it?’, she tutted softly, rubbing her fingers over his skin. When Kokichi before had rubbed his skin like that it was pleasant, but the woman did it harshly, and it felt as though she was trying to rip it off casually. ‘L-love?’, he stammered out. His eyes felt like closing. He wasn’t sure where the numb feeling was coming from, but it was too tempting not to give into it. 

With a shift motion of Rantaro pulling their hands apart, a worried and concern filled expression on his face, Saihara was pulled out of the strange numb hazy state of mind. ‘I think that’s enough public display of affection for today’, the guy joked softly, although it was obvious something was up with him. Still, the woman glared at Rantaro for interrupting the moment, and hissed softly. ‘How dare you’, she snarled, shocking the three guys that were sitting at the table. It may have been a trick of the light, but Saihara could’ve sworn he saw the ends of the blue hair of the woman turn into a light pink shade, as well as her eye color changing a bit. Still, this was gone in one sudden moment as she sat back a bit and cleared her throat, pushing her glasses further back onto her nose. ‘How dare you touch me without consent? Consent is important, mister Amami, you must know this’, she smiled innocently. Still, behind that innocence was a malice that Shuichi himself definitely didn’t want to experience again. 

‘Ah, sorry, Shirogane. Uh, Shuichi, we still need to prepare for the party, remember?’, Rantaro spoke up, his eyes focussed on the male. The aspiring detective didn’t remember that he had to prepare for the party with Rantaro, but the demanding look the other gave him was enough to make him play the part he was supposed to play in the situation. ‘Ah, right, I almost forgot! Silly me’, Shuichi laughed awkwardly, scratching his neck as he stood up from the table, and managed to almost let the chair fall back. Chihiro eyed them curiously as he hadn’t heard of this before, but didn’t push too much into it. After all, right after Shirogane asked the brunette if he might need some help preparing as well, and the gesture was sweet enough for him to forget about the inconsistencies of Rantaro’s statement. ‘I’ll see you guys later’, Fujisaki called after them as they were rushing to the door of the dining room to exit it, and they only waved back swiftly, before they found themselves in the hall. 

As the door closed behind them, both of the males took a moment of silence to think for themselves. ‘I think…’, Rantaro started, turning to Shuichi, and gulping quietly. ‘I think that trusting prince Ouma’s judgement might be a good idea’. Saihara could only agree on that, freaked out by what had just happened as well. ‘You know what’, Amami added to that, seeming in thought still, as though he was contemplating whether or not what he wanted to say was a good idea. He eventually nodded to himself, and smiled a bit, although it was a pained one. ‘I think I should show you something. Come with me’. 

Without asking any questions Shuichi again followed Rantaro to his room, and now since he was familiar with the place the scene didn’t make him as shocked as he was before. Closing the door behind the both of them, the green haired servant gestured for the other to sit down on the bed again, which he did. Shuichi hummed quietly to himself as Amami walked through one of the bookcases on the far left of his room, rummaging through things that looked like logbooks and normal books just put into one pile, although he supposed that perhaps he wasn’t as organised as he looked at times. In a bit of time the other servant had found the books he was looking for, gripping two close to his chest; one that seemed like a journal, and one that was simply a leatherbound book. 

‘So, uh. During my travels I started to realise what witches were of course, and I purchased books with info on them, as well as doing my own research. This one’, Rantaro started, and lifted the one he held in his left hand up a bit, ‘is where I wrote about different witches I’ve come across, and my experience with them’. He seemed a little flustered as he shared this, but obviously pushed himself not to mind it too much as he handed the book over to Shuichi, that gripped onto it, his eyes wide out of curiosity. As the book was closed, it was pretty, and looked fairly old. Letting his fingers feel the paper without opening it yet, he glanced at Rantaro, that was nodded towards him encouragely to open it. It was that moment that Saihara realised there was some type of bookmark placed in it, and he opened it where Amami had obviously left off writing. 

He had to flip two pages back to see who it was about, since it seemed to be describing a person and their actions, and his eyes widened a bit as he saw the name  _ Kokichi Ouma  _ standing on the page. A sketch of the boy was next to it, something that looked pretty good, and Shuichi wouldn’t have guessed Rantaro would be so skilled at things like art. Although there were probably more important things to focus on, Shuichi couldn’t help but to be interested in what the pages had to say about the male anyway. So despite his gut feeling telling him maybe he shouldn’t, he still read the information that Rantaro had written down about him. 

“Kokichi Ouma.

_ Prince at Lavender Kingdom, heir to the throne. _

_ Witch ~~? maybe~~ definitely. Emotion-type _

-At first glance Kokichi seems like a playful type of asshole that one could meet up in the mountains next to the kingdom, so I was very suspicious of him not originating from here. I just came to work here, and he has not shown himself to me yet besides the meeting I had with his parents, where he put salt in the tea they had made for me. I thought he may have been a demon of some sort, but his eyes aren’t the slightest bit red, so I don’t think so. I’ve asked around the villagers about the royal family before I came here, but there wasn’t much to note. The only interesting thing I gathered from them was that ever since the heir was born everything was a little more gloomy and dark there. You could almost say the boy is some type of parasite, sucking up the life of the town from the inside of the castle. 

-Today was the first time that Kokichi ordered me to do something for him. I was simply cleaning the hall that he had messed up, since the other servants didn’t dare to. It was a bit of a strange experience. I can tell that lying is the boy’s hobby. It’s a shame that I can’t tell if he’s manipulating his eye color, since I could be almost certain that he is some type of demon. But why would the king and queen of this castle let in a demon to their palace? I suppose I’m overthinking things. Something is up with him though. I was asked to make him tea, three sugars, and he threw the cup at me when I brought it back. I don’t think we’re gonna be friends, but he surely is interesting. 

-Something is definitely up with Kokichi. I have looked through all the other journals that people were willing to gift me, and I couldn’t figure out what exactly was up. Korekiyo contacted me about my findings, but there’s nothing I am willing to return. He pushed me today, and I fell over and hit my arm against his bedpost. yet afterwards he brought me to the nurse. I wouldn’t expect an evil being to do something like that. The guy is a mystery yet to be solved. 

-I think something is up with his emotions. Today the kingdom got a letter that Lucky, who I learned from asking around was a cat that friends of his (Nagito? Hajime?) that live up the mountains owned and he was attached to, died. The prince hasn’t gone out of his room, and when I entered, he wasn’t crying. He was just staring at me. However, when I asked him if he was okay, all the lights in the room dimmed. It was a little sad. He has a permanent scent of lavender around him, and it’s hard to wash it out of his clothes. Perhaps he has something to do with the dull flowers outside as well. 

-a lady in the streets told me about a curse. I’m not sure how much of it I should believe, but the name Junko Enoshima does ring a bell. Supposedly she was there on the first day of his arrival, and she may have messed with him. I wouldn’t be surprised if she was a manipulator. Things could go very wrong if this is the case. 

-The curse is correct. Kirumi was trying to teach Kokichi how to knit something, and he cut his own hand while doing so. Although the others didn’t notice, I did notice when I cleaned up the floor that his rug had been burned a bit. It was now black where the droplets of blood had landed. I hope that he won’t bleed more often. I don’t think Kokichi is a bad person. If the others find out something is up, it may end badly for him. I can’t tell Korekiyo anything. I’ll tell him that I realised nothing of the legends outside of the castle were true. 

-I need to stay here. There isn’t a way to get rid of the evidence if I’m gone. For Ouma’s safety, I will give up my old life. ~~He is important~~ He is a friend to me, even if I must say that he scares me sometimes. I think a present of his mother made him really happy today. The flower scent that hung around him was stronger than usual. If the king knows, it’s over. Everyone is already scared of him. When there’s evidence, I won’t be able to stop it. I need to hide this journal better from now on. We went to a burning today, and it quite upset the prince. 

-No further information. I’m certain that the curse was related to his blood. Kokichi is a good person. “

  
Shuichi blinked as he read where the story was so suddenly cut off. It did make what he had thought before about the guy seem more real this way. He knew he definitely wanted to write about this in his own notebook, which he had described things in before about the prince, since he was the most interesting mystery around there. The old stealing and mischief crimes that he had tried to solve before seemed like child's play compared to this. 

Rantaro looked over his shoulder with him, and coughed softly into his hand. ‘Uh, well, I meant to show you the one before that’, he told him, flipping more pages back. There was a sketch of a blue haired girl that seemed almost too real to be a simple coincidence. Instead of a name, there were written three question marks. Still, the manipulator name was put underneath that, something that Ouma’s pages had referred to before, although Shuichi wasn’t sure what exactly that was all about. He started to read out loud.

‘ _ I came across this woman when I had crossed the sea to Hope’s Peak. She held my companion in a trance. I wasn’t sure what exactly was happening, and when I did, it was too late. Out of free will he wandered outside during the late hours, and into the sea. Hoshi drowned himself-  _ Oh my god, that’s awful’, Shuichi’s eyes were wide as he put a hand in front of his lips, and put the book down. Rantaro gave him a soft, sad sigh, as he closed the book and placed it back onto the pile of other journals in the bookshelf he had taken it from. ‘It was the first time I met the legend herself, after not having believed that a creature like that could exist’, Amami mumbled to him, before sitting back down on the bed again next to Saihara. The bluenette placed a hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him, but Rantaro shrugged it off with a humorless laugh. ‘It’s alright, this was a while back, I’m fine now’, he told the other servant. 

‘I only know about the manipulating witches what it says in this book’, Rantaro continued, holding up the other book he had picked up from the shelf now, before putting it down again, ‘and that isn’t a whole lot. Apparently they live off the fact that because of them, others have died, but they can’t directly kill anyone that is human. They can manipulate them into doing it themselves, or something that apparently happens more often, manipulate others into doing it to someone. They tend to have great destructive wishes for no reason at all, is what I gathered from the stories. So far only three have been spotted and identified, although never did anyone know their names. After all… they can change their appearance, at times. It makes it difficult to figure out who is real and who is made up’. The explanation made Shuichi’s head feel a little light. When Tsumugi had grabbed onto his hand, he had felt a strange sensation as well, and now that he thought about it, he couldn’t recall what exactly had been said to him. 

‘I know not all witches are bad, but these definitely are’, Rantaro told him, nodding towards the book he had put down before. ‘Still, humans tend not to care about the differences. When they’re fueled by fear, anything they can’t understand is brought to burn at the stake, no matter how nice someone may seem at first’. The sentence came out with a huff, and a definite distaste in the male’s voice, as though he was a bit ashamed and perhaps even angry to be a part of something like that which he didn’t agree with. ‘Now, I can’t be sure… but I definitely think that Shirogane isn’t good news. And she probably won’t leave unless she has caused destruction, or worse, murder’, Amami finished off with a frown on his face, folding his arms over his chest and biting his lip. What exactly was there that they could do about it, after all? Anything they would try, would expose Kokichi’s identity, and they had actual proof on that with the writings. The vague drawing of Tsumugi would definitely not be enough to convince the people around them if it was so easy for the blue haired woman to manipulate those around her. Chihiro, who was normally far more reserved around strangers, was completely gone for her already after all. Shuichi could only guess how powerful she may have been. 

‘Maybe we can just try to observate a little more. I mean.. if she came here to swiftly kill off everyone, wouldn’t she have done something already?’, Shuichi deducted softly, thinking deeply about this, and placing his fingers on his chin like he used to do back when he helped his uncle at his detective office. ‘Hmm… maybe she’s waiting for something?’, Amami concluded, an even more troubled look on his face now than there had been before. ‘That’s not good, is it?’, Shuichi asked quietly, hugging himself a bit. He hadn’t been there when what happened to Rantaro did, but he could only guess that if she made his friend go into the ocean simply by bringing him into a strange type of trance, who knew what else she could do. 

‘I’m going to my room, I need to think about some things’, Shuichi apologized and excused himself, bowing a bit to the green haired servant. As he got up from the bed, he stopped for a moment as he felt Rantaro’s hand wrap around his wrist. ‘Shuichi, I haven’t shared this information with anyone else before. Can you promise me not to share it either? Even if you write it down in your own notebook, you should keep it somewhere where people won’t look for it. Alright?’. The desperation that was in the other’s voice made Saihara nod regardless of what he would’ve wanted anyway. Having lost a person that was obviously some type of important to Amami was probably not the best thing for the male to go through, and he didn’t want something like that to happen again. For the safety of prince Ouma and everyone else around them, he couldn’t go spreading the news like wildfire. 

Amami let go of him and bid him goodbye. The journey back to Shuichi’s room wasn’t that eventful. Rummaging through his backpack and holding onto the strange necklace he had gotten from Kiibo, he sighed softly to himself. He wondered when he would see his friend again, and if he would see him again at all. But who knew what the future could bring them. Sure, fate seemed to hang around him all the time, and taunt him in the strangest ways possible, but it wasn’t like he could actually see into the future. Perhaps he shouldn’t want to, either. If something like fate was real, he wouldn’t want to see something that he couldn’t change the outcome of anyway. 

Lost in thought, he scribbled down everything he had heard about Ouma in his notebook. How long had he known him for? A little while, sure, but he was already strangely interested in the other, and that didn’t happen often. Sure, he was concerned about the mystery behind people at times, but that wasn’t the only reason he would think about Kokichi. He was interested in his stories, even if he knew they were lies. He was interested in his thoughts. He was interested in what he did, what he planned to do, and even the mischievous parts of him sparked Shuichi’s interest, while he usually despised people that didn’t do anything but cause harm to others. The prince didn’t really cause harm after all, he was just a little annoying. Annoying in a cute way, did that make sense? Although cute was a strange word for it. 

Having finished the things he wanted to write down, and finished being deep in thoughts, he felt as though he had forgotten something, which was a little strange. Thinking back to today, there were some things he had done already of course. Woken up early to eat breakfast, so he could swiftly finish and help Kokichi as the male had ordered him to. Talking to Tsumugi and Rantaro, and-

‘Kokichi! Shit!’, Shuichi gasped with wide eyes, realising he was definitely late to come to the male’s room. He should’ve been there a while back. He wasn’t sure how angry Ouma could get, but he’d definitely make a fuss about it anyway. So without a second thought, Saihara rushed out of his room and to the bedroom of the prince. In this haste, he didn’t even realise that he was still holding onto the notebook in which he had just written, but hopefully that wouldn't be too big of a problem. If Shuichi told him not to, Kokichi probably wouldn’t ask any questions about it…

Right?


	11. Books, Journals and Feast Preparations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Fine, I don’t want to see your stupid diary anyways’, he grunted, gesturing with his hand lazily.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I should go to bed but first I finished this chapter so;;; I hope it's at least a little bit interesting.  
> If I have to be honest I'm always scared to let you guys down every chapter I post, but then I see the comments which are pretty reassuring, so thank you all for the support x x x x 
> 
> warning: violence, swearing, the usual 
> 
> No I didn't reread this I'm gonna sleep

Shuichi Saihara rushed through the halls and up the stairs, ignoring the eyes of curious other servants on him for breaking his usually composed way of going around the castle. On the second floor of the castle there were a lot more servants than he had anticipated when he made this not-so-carefully-planned trip, since the ballroom that would be used was up there, and needed many people to prepare for it. Other staff members were coming back from notifying the richer people from the village about the feat, and rushed through the halls as well to bring the news to the different people in charge, which made it a mess for Shuichi to go through. He had already lost much time by forgetting the fact that he had been ordered to meet Ouma in his room right after breakfast and going with Rantaro instead, and now he was struggling to push through the crowds. He realised he looked rather worked up and felt a bit embarrassed, but he wasn’t one to come late to anything he was supposed to go to. That would be even more embarrassing than having to speed red faced through the crowded castle halls, he supposed. 

With somewhat sweaty hands the boy absentmindedly gripped onto the notebook that was still in his hand. He didn’t take notice of it now, checking the different paintings to see if the way he was going really was the correct way, even if he was sure that he could’ve found Kokichi’s room with his eyes closed considering how much he had been ordered to come in there ever since he came to work at the castle. Being nervous made him a bit more clumsy at times as well as the fact that he would overthink way too much, he knew this. The different faces of people drawn as beautiful pieces of art forever to be kept made his head spin, but he followed the golden frames with strange stone decorations. Just two halls further, he’d be fine. Still, his heart stopped in his chest for a moment as he saw the king come from the right hall next to him, accompanied by a servant. 

Shuichi hadn’t dared to face the royals of course, definitely after he had spilled tea of all things over the king, in a weak moment. He wouldn’t dare to disappoint them enough to be send back home and forget about this place he had grown to love. The most orders he had been given by Ouma, and he knew that this also wasn’t something the king and queen appreciated very much. Their son was becoming a bit more absent minded to his lessons and other things he was supposed to be doing around the castle, and they suspected it to be Shuichi’s fault. The bluenette knew that before he arrived here, Kokichi wouldn’t pay much attention either, but he supposed people liked to push blame onto others than the ones they loved. At least, he thought that his parents loved Kokichi. Sometimes he was a little unsure about the king himself, but his mother certainly did. Even more the reason he shouldn’t be talking to either of them with all the stuff about Ouma being a witch and Tsumugi being one as well on his mind. He might accidentally blurt something out, and that would be the end of him and the prince. 

‘Ah, Saihara!’, the deep voice of the king called out, and Shuichi could feel his skin crawl a bit. He figured that if he quickened his pace he could pretend not to have heard the man. So, without hesitation he forced his feet to take him down the hall faster and away from the king and the servant that was with him, trying to figure out how he could come into Kokichi’s room unbothered. This however proved to be quite difficult, since Lord Ouma seemed to be quite persistent in what he wanted, and simply followed the blue haired servant further down his way. ‘Hey, Shuichi Saihara, wait!’, the loud voice of the man basically roared through the hall, and it silenced all the other servants around, as well as Shuichi himself, who stopped in his tracks. 

He gulped quietly, slowly turning around to face the man. His white, greyish hair had been brushed neatly as always, even though it still made him seem old, which he kind of was. He was wearing some strange kind of robe that Shuichi couldn’t really seem to place, but it fitted the male, and with confident steps he neared the blue haired servant. Everyone else surrounding them looked as though they were holding their breaths together with Shuichi, and silently hoping for a show as well as hoping for the staff member not to be handled too harshly. The king’s eyes had always been dark, and a little dull perhaps. He didn’t speak much, so it was a little more intimidating for him to now raise his voice at the bluenette. Cowering away a bit in fear, Saihara waited for his inevitable doom, eyes closed tightly as he felt the air around him and the nearing presence of the slightly taller male. 

He wouldn’t have put it past the king to reach out and simply hit him across the face, so just in case his hands gripped at each other behind his back to help brace himself. Still, a blow to the face never came. ‘...Saihara?’, the voice spoke up again, a bit more careful this time. Still on guard, Shuichi let one eye open a bit, it being met with the puzzled expression of the king in front of him. He wasn’t sure what he was supposed to do. Was he supposed to get on his knees and beg for forgiveness, like Kokichi would ask him to do sometimes jokingly? Was he supposed to understand he was going to get kicked out? ‘Look, I came to say sorry’, the words tumbled from the king’s lips, as he reached out a hand. 

Something like that Shuichi definitely hadn’t expected. Opening a second eye, and studying the older man’s expression to see if this wasn’t a ruse to catch him off guard eventually, he noticed the genuity. The storm had settled down a little while back and fights could continue, as well as the farmers weren’t as scared anymore to work, so food wasn’t that much of a problem to get anymore. Things were doing a little better for the kingdom again, and the tenseness that had hung around the king for the longest time was now slowly subsiding again. ‘...huh?’, Shuichi responded, a little dumbfounded by the gesture, and it made the king chuckle quietly. ‘Don’t act so surprised. I deeply apologize, Saihara, for I should have seen that you were troubled and instead I lashed out on you’, Lord Ouma repeated, still holding his hand out for Shuichi to take. 

Stunned to silence, the servant blinked a bit. He wasn’t used to having something like a handshake from someone as important as the king, since he usually had to bow to him to show his loyalty and gratefulness and things like that. Hesitantly Shuichi himself also extended a hand and grabbed onto the harsher once of Lord Ouma, giving a firm yet somewhat concerned handshake. The man smiled at him, even if it didn’t quite reach his eyes, tired lines in his face. Old age was really coming for him now, and it was sad to see. ‘Well then. Continue on where you were going’, the man told him, gesturing to the way he had been rushing through the halls. Still a bit stunned, Saihara only nodded, and stayed still for a moment, before turning on his heels when the king himself left him standing in the center of the hall all by himself since he didn’t seem to be moving. 

The fact that the head of the royal family had apologized to him had him feel a little bit lighter in the moment, and the initial stress of having to face Kokichi after being late wasn’t as bad to handle anymore. His nerves managed to rest a bit and he fairly easily found the painted door that he remembered to be Kokichi’s, even if the prince tried to alter something about it every moment of free time he possessed. 

Carefully, Shuichi knocked on the door, hearing the soft grunt of the prince that meant he was allowed to enter, and it made him bite his lip. ‘I-it’s me, sorry for-’, the guy started to apologize, however, he was cut off as Kokichi basically pounced on him already, pinning the poor servant to the door harshly and glaring at him. Shuichi gulped quietly as his eyes were wide, and Ouma snarled softly at him. ‘You’re late, Saihara-chan’, he mentioned dryly, voice harsh and judgemental, and Shuichi couldn’t bare to look into those purple eyes that showed no emotion for the time being. At moments he wished he had a cap of some sort to be able to hide the eyes of people from himself, but sadly enough, he did not possess over such a thing. 

‘Oh, u-uh, I’m sorry, Amami-kun asked-’, Shuichi started his apology, although he was interrupted almost as soon as he started to speak. ‘So you’re ignoring my orders to suck faces with Rantaro, hmm?’, Kokichi asked, a sneer evident in his voice, and Saihara gulped quietly as he tried to shook his head, feeling a bit tense like this. ‘N-no! Y-you misunderstand, I forgot-’. ‘You _forgot_ about it? Forgot about me, Saihara-chan? Gosh, you’re cruel!’, Kokichi whined as he let go of the boy that could feel himself relax at least a bit, although he still kept his back pressed against the door. ‘A-and here I thought we had something special, we even have a _cat_ together!’, the male cried out, pointing an accusatory finger towards Shuichi. ‘You’re planning to sneak off with Amami, huh?!’. 

‘N-no! It was nothing like that!’, Saihara squeaked with wide eyes, his face reddening a bit as he hugged himself. Kokichi huffed, glaring at him and placing his hands at his hips, tilting his head. ‘That’s what they all say, and yet you’re off to join Rantaro in his room as soon as he asks you to’, the purple haired prince noted, giving him a look as if he knew exactly what Shuichi was up to, although the servant tried to show him that he was completely wrong about the motives. ‘I-it was important! We didn’t-’. ‘What can be more important than me, huh?’, Kokichi asked with a pout, folding his arms over his chest, ‘I thought this arrangement was supposed to come from two sides, but now you’re saying I’m not important!’. ‘Y-you are important! It was something about you, listen to me!’, Shuichi whined out with a troubled expression, wishing for the trickster to just realise that he was wrong. This whole scene was just weird in Saihara’s eyes and he wasn’t sure what could have provoked him to react this strongly. 

Kokichi had fallen silent for a moment, and instead of the very dramatic angry face he was making Shuichi could see a strangely red tint near his ears, as the boy looked expressionless once again, and stood still in the room. Of course, Shuichi had probably gone too far by crying out like that towards the prince. He still stood above him, after all. ‘I’m very sorry prince Ouma, i-it won’t happen again, I promise-’, the bluenette pleaded almost as he felt himself stammer, his voice shaking and his hands bawling at his sides. ‘Nuh uh. The days of you sneaking off with Amami are done. I want a divorce’, Kokichi huffed, holding his head up and looking away from the other in the room. ‘By the way, Destiny is mine, you can go make your own children with wonderboy’. 

Now it was Shuichi’s turn to be silent. Slowly but surely, it dawned on him, and his cheeks started to tint red in embarrassment now. ‘W-wait… you were.. joking…’, he muttered in disbelief, reaching a hand to his own face and feeling how hot the skin had become. Now he realised why everything had seemed so dramatic. Kokichi was just pulling a prank on him. He wasn’t actually mad. Why didn’t Shuichi notice this before? He was crying about the _cat_ for God Sake, he could’ve known before blurting out that Ouma indeed was important to him- perhaps that was why the purplenette fell silent eventually as well, since the confession obviously wasn’t mean to come out of his teasing. 

Kokichi smiled a little bashfully, something that Shuichi hadn’t expected to see on him. ‘Was it too much?’, he asked, an actual concern in his voice, and it only made Saihara blush a darker shade of red. ‘I-I suppose this was what I deserved for being late, huh?’, he responded. The blank expression returned to Kokichi, and he forced a smirk on his face as he shrugged, before cupping his neck with his hands. ‘Yup! It was a lie, nishsishi! But I forgive you, my Saihara-chan, because you’re cute when you blush. But that was a lie as well, you’re actually very gross like this. Or was it? Nee-hee!’, the prince spurred out his nonsense, which Shuichi understood was because he was feeling a little embarrassed himself perhaps, but tried not to show it. Shuichi sighed softly and shook his head a bit, extending a hand to the prince like he remembered a while back the prince did towards him, as some strange sign of trust. ‘Forgive and forget?’, the boy asked softly, his voice more quiet than he had wished it to be. 

Kokichi grinned widely and clapped in his hands, before grabbing the soft hand of Shuichi and pulling him forward harshly, almost making him trip over his own feet when lunging forward basically. ‘Great proposal, I’m all for it, Shu shu!’. During the pull, the notebook that Saihara had been holding in his hand fell to the floor, creating a soft thud due to the rug on the floor that at least managed to protect it a bit, although it was loud enough for both of the boys to hear. The trickster’s eyes twinkled curiously upon noticing it, and he hopped forward. ‘Ooh, what’s that?’, he asked. As he stepped and leaned to grab the notebook, Shuichi basically blocked it with his own body, his eyes widened. ‘That’s private, I’ll bring it back to my room-’. 

‘Ooooh! Saihara-chan has a secret diary! How cute’, Kokichi teased and booped the boy’s nose, before making a swift movement to the right to try and get past Shuichi to grab a hold of the book. Shuichi was fairly quick however and managed to hold his arm out, basically grabbing Kokichi and pulling him back before he would be able to read through the notebook. ‘It’s not a diary, it’s more of a… journal’, Shuichi huffed a bit ashamed by the fact that Kokichi now knew about it. He was pretty sure he wouldn’t be able to ever get him to shut up about it if the prince ever knew how much he had written in it about him ever since coming to the castle. To be fair, the prince had been the most interesting mystery in the whole kingdom it seemed, so it wasn’t _that_ strange that Saihara decided to investigate him a little. 

‘Well, let me read it!’, Ouma demanded, making grabby hands towards Shuichi that had taken a hold of the notebook again, and kept it behind his back now. ‘Nope. Not happening’, the bluenette responded, shaking his head no. Kokichi pouted and rocked on his heels. ‘Puh-lease?’, he asked, putting on cute eyes and batting his lashes at the taller male innocently. Saihara sighed in response, scratching his arm a bit nervously. ‘No. It’s personal for a reason’, the aspiring detective mumbled. Of course the prince would make a fuss about in and throw a tantrum, but everything was better than the embarrassment that the servant would have to feel if he actually read the thing. A couple more of ‘ _I demand you show me!’_ s and _‘how dare you say no to me, I’m heartbroken Saihara-chan!’_ s later the prince realised that Shuichi wasn’t giving in, and he groaned softly in annoyance. ‘Fine, I don’t want to see your stupid diary anyways’, he grunted, gesturing with his hand lazily. 

‘So… why did you ask me to meet you here? You only said it was about the party of tomorrow?’, Shuichi spoke up after a small moment of silence, taking this time to sit down on the king sized bed that was Kokichi’s. The prince didn’t mind, since he was used to the other being in his room, so it went almost unnoticed. ‘Well, first of all, I want to wear what Saihara-chan would look best on me! And also, you gotta help me with something, but I’ll tell you about that later’, the boy chirped happily, awfully embarrassing, and Shuichi could only chuckle quietly as he rested his head in his hands, watching the purple haired male. ‘Well, what can I pick from?’, he asked. 

‘So eager, Saihara, tsk tsk’, the male tutted him with a dramatic sigh, going to his closet and opening the door to it, rummaging through the different types of clothes he had. ‘Well, I know my mom and dad are probably gonna look around for a daughter of some rich person from the village to marry me to or something, so I gotta look good at least’, the prince muttered, although his voice clearly stated he wasn’t too happy with that. For some reason, Shuichi himself wasn’t too happy with that either, but he supposed he just wished for Ouma to be able to pick his eventual lover himself instead of having his parents force people on him. It was silent, and Kokichi’s face appeared from behind the door of the closet. ‘This is where you’re supposed to say, _you always look good Ouma-kun!_ you know?’, Kokichi commented, making Shuichi snicker softly. As he went back to rummaging through his clothes, Shuichi wouldn’t be able to see the small smile on his face. Although it didn’t very much seem like it sometimes, making Shuichi laugh was one of his favorite ways to spend his time. There was something about him he was drawn to, and if he wouldn’t openly admit it, he would at least admit it to himself. 

‘Okay, so!’, Ouma cheered up a bit when he had found the pairs he was looking for. ‘I have two options, because Kirumi sucks and can’t think of better things’, he hummed, turning to Shuichi. Saihara bit his lip. ‘You don’t really feel like that about Tojo, do you?’, he asked carefully, studying the boy’s face to see if he was lying or not. The purple haired liar blinked and swallowed visibly, but other than that showed no signs of discomfort. A smile was soon put back on his face. ‘Do I? Great question. Sadly enough, not all questions have reasonable answers, mister Saihara. Now keep up, I’m talking about fashion, not about maids’, he tutted him again with a pout, bringing the two options at hand to the bed and laying them down next to each other. 

One of the outfits was almost completely in a black and white color scheme. The expensive looking white coat had a small checkered pattern in silver checkers near the coat pockets on the sides, and silver buttons as well. It went with a black tie and yet another white undershirt. The pants were white as well, although the ends of the trouser legs were cuffed up a bit and showed yet another checkered pattern to be in them. The fabric felt soft to his hands as he inspected it, and even though it was a little tame, it did feel like something Kokichi could pull off. 

The other fit was a bit more daring, if Shuichi had to give his opinion on it. The colors were darker and stood out a bit more, mostly a dark purple contrasted to black. The coat was longer in the back and the pants this time didn’t cover the whole leg, but would be worn with high socks underneath again. In the shirt he had chosen for this specific set there were light patterns sewn close to the buttons that held it together. Kokichi definitely had a thing about detail, it seemed, and really, it suited him. This one went with the checkered tie that Ouma seemed to love so much, and it made Saihara smile a little. If he had to be honest, he felt like this one would fit the boy very well. ‘I think this one would suit you’, the servant said in all honesty as he let his hands run over the fabric of the suit. 

‘Oh? Interesting’, the male responded, his head tilted as he watched Shuichi gently hold the clothes for him. ‘Well then, I’ll put ‘em on! Now don’t be a pervert, and wait in the bathroom until I’m done and call you to come back now, will you?’, Kokichi smiled innocently, grinning as the servant cleared his throat and nodded. Swiftly Shuichi made his way to the bathroom, and closed it behind him, leaning against the door in silence. 

Perhaps Kokichi was a little cruel for making use of the fact that he understood Saihara was kind of a prude when it came to Ouma dressing up. After all, last time he had to change into his pajamas, the male made a whole thing about it to wait in the bathroom for him to finish as well. It was a little cute, that the male was shy, but it was also stupid in his regard. After all, with the speed in which Shuichi ran to the bathroom to basically hide himself until Ouma would give him a sign for him to come out, he had completely forgotten that he’d left the notebook on Kokichi’s bed where he’d been sitting before. It was basically free game for Kokichi. Yeah, he was cruel, but he was curious, and curiosity got the best of him. So despite the fact that Shuichi made it clear the notebook was personal, a wicked grin formed on the purplenette’s lips as he reached to the notebook, and opened it. 

The first couple of pages were fairly boring. Shuichi had written some tips and tricks about his uncle’s detective work and things like those, gadgets that he wanted to make and parts of it that interested him. He had written a bit about how far back in his family the generation of detectives would get, and it was kind of sweet that he was so interested in the matter, but Ouma couldn’t really care less since it wasn’t a juicy detail that he could embarrass the bluenette with forever. After the kind of introduction to his notebook Kokichi noticed that some pages had swift notes scribbled down about things that Shuichi had seen around him, and others were delicately written out notes about different cases he had been following with his uncle. It seemed to have been written a while back as things were smudged out a bit, and most of it was written with a strange type of pencil. Sketches were made as well, although they weren’t very good sketches at that, and it made Kokichi snicker softly. Okay. It was cute. Kind of. 

Slowly the things he had written down about missing cat cases and small robberies around town, things started to turn more interesting. There was a long report on a murder, with many question marks, and the further that Kokichi browsed through the notebook the more he realised that he was witnessing the bluenette slowly figuring out the murder. Question marks from before were being answered in the most interesting ways possible, and if he didn’t respect the boy before, he surely did now. Saihara definitely was smarter than he let on at times. Still, right after coming at his height of who murdered this innocent man, which was someone that was close to the governor of his town apparently, things went downhill again. Only small notes were taken of missing pet cases and some ruckus on the street, but it wasn’t as big as it used to be. Apparently that case hadn’t been that good for Shuichi’s imaginary career. 

Ouma was about to close the notebook, when he flipped a page, and came to a fairly accurate sketch of himself, which made him raise a brow. ‘Uh, prince Ouma, can I come in?’, Shuichi called from the bathroom, knocking on the door once, and Kokichi was a little startled from the sudden noise. ‘Only if you wish to see me in my underwear!’, Kokichi called back, straining his voice a little, and the very embarrassed noise that came from inside of the bathroom made him giggle quietly to himself, before turning back to the notebook. ‘The mystery of Kokichi Ouma, huh?’, the male muttered to himself, a little amused, although it was maybe a little bit concerning as well. Just how much could Shuichi know, after all? 

The first couple of pages on himself again weren’t that shocking. Shuichi had described several pranks the trickster had pulled, and the fact that he wrote about it without giving much of an opinion on the matter made Kokichi snicker a little bit. He really wrote very maturely, even if the book was his and his alone, so it was kind of funny. 

Things escalated a little later on, in Shuichi speculating what exactly was going on in the royal family. He had written parts about Kokichi’s parents that seemed to be strangely accurate even if he had only a small amount of information, and it was quite impressive. Still, he felt a small bit of dread start to pool in the bottom of his stomach as soon as he first read the word _witch_ in the notes. 

Kokichi knew, he knew that Shuichi was smart. He knew that Shuichi acted like someone that could be pretty open minded, and he knew that the male could figure out his lies eventually if he was focussed. So he could have known what type of conclusion the guy could come to if he spend enough time around Ouma, and the prince should have realised how dangerous spending time with someone like that should have been. After all, Kokichi himself was smart as well. People didn’t always realise this because he hid it with his pranks and lies, but he was a pretty calculated and intelligent person. He could only scold himself for the fact that he decided to ignore his knowledge when meeting Shuichi, simply because he seemed too interesting not to talk to. 

‘Prince Ouma, are you done yet?’, the bluenette called again as he knocked on the door. Kokichi, still a little tense from what he was reading, just kept flipping through the pages were it seemed that the male was getting more and more confirmed that he was in fact not completely human. He hadn’t even started to change into anything else than the clothes he had been wearing, but he couldn’t be bothered to put the notebook down now either. The words were changing. Well, not changing, but they were getting a more opinionated flavor to it, and it made Kokichi’s chest tighten a little. _How? Shuichi knew he was a witch, he knew. And yet… yet.._

Shuichi was different. He had been right from the start, Kokichi could tell, and strangely enough he still hadn’t understood in what kind of way. All the villagers, all the people he lived with, were scared of witches. He was supposed to be scared of them, even if he was one of them. He didn’t fully understand what was happening to him, but Rantaro had been nice enough to try and explain his thoughts, managing to freak Ouma the fuck out when he realised what he was implying. Still, in the back of his mind he had known. And the dreams about Junko Enoshima only made his thoughts worse. But now it wasn’t just Kokichi that was speculating this, it was Shuichi as well. Ouma, whom Rantaro told to hide these type of things for everyone if he didn’t want to get murdered for it, was seeing things written down here he wouldn’t expect to see from anyone else than Amami. After all, everyone thought witches were evil beings that deserved to be burned, since they were told so since the beginning of time and would be told so till the end of days. 

Still. Shuichi seemed to write nothing but admiration for him later on, nothing but speculations which made Kokichi seem like a _good_ person, and he was sure he had never felt this confused before. 

He barely noticed the creaking sound of the bathroom door opening as he hadn’t actually replied to Shuichi for the second time, and the aspiring detective was becoming a little worried. ‘Ouma- you’re not changed?’, his voice spoke up firstly as he saw that Kokichi was still wearing the clothes he had been wearing before, until his eyes met the notebook that was in the prince’s hands, and the shocked expression that was on his face.  
  
Shuichi tensed up, before he dashed forward with a ‘give that back!’. His voice sounded light and didn’t hold much power. It was fairly easy for him to grip the book from his hands, and to close it swiftly, keeping it behind his back as if he hadn’t been far too late. Judging by his state, he probably had been reading it ever since Shuichi had entered the bathroom. He was stupid for forgetting the notebook back here. The silence from the prince was killing him, and he gulped quietly, looking down at his feet. ‘I… I’m sorry’, he muttered quietly, hoping that Ouma could at least try to forgive him for whatever he had just read. Shuichi wasn’t always proud of himself when finishing cases, and if Kokichi had read the part about himself, he was probably freaked out about the fact that he was written about in the notebook. 

‘Shuichi…’, Kokichi started, blinking as if he was still in disbelief, and he looked up at the bluenette. The servant couldn’t meet his gaze, ashamed of himself and what might come now, and he curled his toes nervously inside of his shoes. The usage of his first name was a little confusing, but he decided not to comment on it. ‘I’m so sorry’, he repeated, biting his lip harshly, harsh enough to draw blood now he noticed. His head felt a little light, and he wasn’t sure why he would be so upset because of this, but he was. ‘Hey’, the voice of Kokichi spoke up again, strangely soft for what the servant had expected. The sound in the room notified him of the fact that Ouma had stood up from the bed he had been sitting on, and as Shuichi was still staring down at his feet as if they were the best thing he had ever seen in his entire life, he noticed the pair of shoes that came into vision when Ouma stood in front of him. ‘Shuichi, look at me’. 

His voice was gentle, perhaps even a bit vulnerable. Saihara wanted to listen to him and look at the male, even if it was only out of curiosity, but he refused to. Still, a hand cupped his cheek, and slowly brought his gaze up to meet a soft look that Kokichi gave him. It was enough to flush the boy’s cheeks a little, even though he still felt ashamed. ‘You shouldn’t be sorry, Shuu. I… I was wondering’, the prince mumbled to him, taking a shaky breath as he thought about what to say next. He was being vulnerable, he really was, Shuichi realised. ‘Do you… mean, what it says in there? I mean, you know- you know… and yet you’re not afraid of me’, Kokichi said, his voice a little hoarse as he did so. It was unusual to see true emotion in the male, and Shuichi didn’t know whether to be scared or to cherish the moment. 

‘Of course I’m not afraid’, the servant replied slowly in all honesty, relishing in the soft touch to his cheek from the shorter male in front of him. ‘I have nothing to be afraid of, except for myself’. The honesty in Shuichi’s gaze could have made the shorter male tear up, but he managed to hold back so much. ‘I… I meant what I said earlier. You are important… and I trust you, because I chose to trust you’, Shuichi gulped softly, nodding as though he agreed with his own words, which he actually did. 

Kokichi blinked. ‘Saihara-chan, that’s really stupid’, the purplenette responded to his words, although the blush that was tinting his ears told another story. The sweet and faint lavender scent that hung around the prince was getting stronger, and the whole room was sweetly scented like the flowers, invading Shuichi’s nostrils in the best way possible; it was a soft feeling, a careful feeling, a genuine gesture of happiness that Saihara couldn’t quite place yet he couldn’t imagine it not to be there at this point. Kokichi seemed like he was glowing with this knowledge, his porcelain skin perfect as usual and the purple locks of his playful hair happily sticking out whatever way possible, gleaming underneath Saihara’s gentle gaze. Something about the scent calmed him down. Something about the scent made him want to stay in here and forget about everyone else in the castle, even if they would have to face them eventually.  
  
Something about the way that Kokichi looked at him, purple eyes sweet and filled with vulnerable happiness that he wouldn’t want to show him through his expression, hand still on his cheek and another absentmindedly pressed to his chest, it made Shuichi want to lean down to him and press his own chapped lips to Kokichi’s rosy and soft looking ones, and that was a scary thought. 

Luckily, the prince cleared his throat before it could get too far, and gave Saihara a cheeky grin again. ‘Now that that’s out of the way!’, the trickster simply cheered, although it seemed like a whole blockade was off the male’s chest now, ‘what I actually asked you to come here for!’. Kokichi made his way back to the closet that was in his room, a sly smirk on his face as he again rummaged through it, but this time with another thought in mind. ‘So, you know the party is gonna be held in the ballroom, so I’m going to have to dance’, the male told him. Shuichi nodded absentmindedly as he sat down on the bed, next to the pile of clothes that Kokichi should have changed into already. ‘And well, I gotta practice dancing with someone’, the prince continued calmly as if it was no big deal, but it made Shuichi’s face flush a bit, as he could only guess where this was going. 

‘O-Ouma-kun… I can’t dance, if this is what you want to ask of me’, Shuichi basically stammered out, scratching his arm awkwardly as he looked at the open door of the closet that Kokichi was basically hiding behind. ‘I wasn’t finished yet!’, Ouma snapped, which silenced the servant so far, although a soft snicker followed. ‘What I was saying, is that I’m most likely going to have to dance with girls, so, to prepare…. tadaa!’. 

Shuichi’s eyes were wide as he gazed upon the dark blue fabric inside of Kokichi’s hands, nice accessory and use of satin that made him blush even more, as he could only stay silent for the time being. When he found his voice, it was no surprise that he was stammering. ‘K-Kokichi, I am _not_ wearing a dress’. 

Rantaro was inside of his room, placing the books he had read through again back onto the shelves that were meant for them. Reading through his old journeys and through the books that were gifted him reminded him of his old travel companions, and it made him a little sad to know that most of them were either gone or quit traveling for personal matters. He really wanted to write Korekiyo again one of these days, even if he wouldn’t be able to give him information about Ouma for obvious reasons. It was a pity that not everyone could simply use common sense to figure out that not all witches were bad. 

With a small smile on his face, he flipped through the first journal he had ever kept, something he often did on evenings like these. He wondered how Shuichi was doing with the news that he had brought upon him. He was fairly sure that he could take it, though. Shuichi seemed to be smart, and so far wasn’t a threat towards the royals either. Amami couldn’t say he fully trusted him, since one could never trust anyone completely, but he did think that the blue haired male was more reliable than he held himself accountable for. Sure, at first the thought of Kokichi actually being a witch seemed to kind of freak him out, but he adapted to the situation fairly easily, and that was saying something. If the legend was true, the purple and blue bird forming a bond that can save empires from disappearing completely and falling down at the hands of the bad guys, then Shuichi was worth the risks that Amami was already taking. 

Certain confident knocks on his door startled the male a bit, and the book he was holding fell from his hands to the floor. ‘Ah- wait a minute!’, Rantaro called out as politely as he could before he placed the book back on its shelf, and he walked towards the door, opening it a little. ‘Hello, is something wrong-’, he started to say, since it was getting a bit later and it wasn’t very usual for other servants to come to his room since they know he liked his personal space and privacy at times. Still, the sight of the blue haired girl that he had been told to be aware of by Shuichi made him stop the words from tumbling out. 

‘Ah.. miss Shirogane, what is it you are doing here?’, the green haired servant asked, clearing his throat softly. He wouldn’t be phased by those bright eyes of the woman. He wouldn’t feel sympathy for the fake smile and the tilt of her head. Tsumugi batted her lashes, and clasped her hands together, smiling brightly as Rantaro. ‘I was just thinking about you, Amami! Please, call me Tsumugi. I thought I saw you going in here with Shuichi, but I suppose that he has already left’, the woman spoke, her eyes peering inside of the room, and even though he didn’t really have much to hide, the green haired male still blocked whatever he could from her vision with his body in the opening of the door.  
As the words left her lips, they didn’t come as much of a surprise, in any case. ‘So… could I come in? I would love to see your room, mister Amami!’. Her voice was sweet, sickenly sweet, and her eyes almost seemed to sparkle. 

_No, you can not. I have heard quite enough about you, miss Shirogane, and you are not the type of person I would want to have roaming around in my room. You are not to be trusted. You can’t come in. You need to leave now. You need to turn around and get away from my room, and don’t ever get ridiculous thoughts like entering and acting like my buddy when you know just how dangerous you are in your head. I can’t let you enter. No, you can’t come in. No, I’m sorry, please just leave now. No. Anything but that._

‘Yes, of course’, Rantaro responded, his mind blank and a strangely sweet scent filling his nostrils, making him want to forget about being conscious over all. He stepped away from the door and let the blue haired woman enter, who only giggled at his expense. 

As soon as the door was closed behind her, she made her way to the bookshelf, picking one of the many books that were in there, one that was thick and seemed to have a strong cover holding the paper pages together. Amami stood in the center of his room, head tilted towards the ceiling, and he could only feel himself hum quietly, absentmindedly rocking on his heels. He couldn’t quite realise that what he was humming was actually being hummed softly by the blue haired woman, and even if he could realise, in this state he wouldn’t have cared all too much. 

Tsumugi grinned, raising the book up a bit as she stepped closer to Rantaro. With stretched arms, she lunged forward, and smashed the object into the male’s head, creating a dull sound that echoed through the room like a rhythmical song that only the blue haired witch were to appreciate. The body of the male crumpled to the floor creating yet another beautiful melody for the female to engulf in, the green hairs sprawled as patches of red were covering it from the fall, body limp on the floor. 

As quick as one would expect to learn to breathe, the woman pulled a match from a pocket in her dress, liting it. No mercy, no harsh feelings. The years worth of research, memories and works was lit up in a beautiful glow of red and orange, heat seeping through the pages and tearing down everything that Amami had worked for. Any proof that could be helpful in Kokichi’s case for what the woman was planning, was gone.  
  
Now it was time for the more fun, yet perhaps more complicated part. Although, Tsumugi was sure she could handle it no matter the challenge.


	12. Trouble

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was as if the body was lifeless, and it shouldn’t have been, not with the knowledge he gained from those in charge here.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Sorry for the late update! Updates may come a little later now since I've been dealing with some personal struggles that make focussing on writing a bit harder. So I'm also sorry if this chapter isn't written as well as I usually write them. 
> 
> Warning: a bit of gore, the usual

Shuichi felt the harsh pressure of panic on his chest as he sat kneeled next to the bed, grasping onto the pale hand that he hoped would at least respond to his touch a little, but it never did. It was as if the body was lifeless, and it shouldn’t have been, not with the knowledge he gained from those in charge here. He had heard just a little too much, been just a little too reckless, and something like this was bound to happen of course, but he still couldn’t believe it. It wasn’t fair. Things had changed so swiftly from the pleasant and foreign feeling of comfortableness around another human being to this draining feeling of despair and doubt. 

The blue haired servant had been holding onto the soft fabric of a dress that Kokichi had handed him expectantly, in the secrecy of the purplenette’s room. It was embarrassing how beautiful the long dress was that prince Ouma had handed him. A dark blue that fit beautifully with his hair color, silver details and nice different layers of fabric. The top of the robe was perfect for it wouldn’t matter that he did not possess over a feminine chest, and Ouma himself seemed to be fairly fond of it, even if he didn’t say it. Still, it had been an embarrassing thought for Shuichi to be wearing something like that, definitely in front of the prince of all people. Still, the thought of a blue and purple bird swirling together in a fateful embrace made him man up, or well, if you could still call it that, and decide that for Kokichi’s sake he would loosen up a bit just for once. 

Of course Shuichi made a fuss about it when the prince had jokes about him dressing up in the same room that Kokichi was in, which the purple haired liar may or may not have secretly found pretty adorable, but he wouldn’t have told him that in any case. So in the bathroom Saihara managed to get the dress on, even if pulling up the zipper in the back had proven to be fairly difficult. The sight he was met with when he looked in the mirror made him blush in shame, and yet it was a free and comfortable feeling to do this. Every day in his life had felt like he was trying so hard to show everyone that he was standard and to their liking, yet this couldn’t have been more different. If his parents would see him like this, they would fully deny their relation by blood, and the thought got a tiny snicker from the aspiring detective. Why, he wasn’t sure, since it was a somewhat depressing thought. Still, he didn’t dwell on the thought for too long, and instead fixed his hair a bit looking in the mirror.   
  
He had to admit when he walked out of that bathroom, the clothes he had picked for Kokichi to wear were an incredible choice. His purple eyes came out wonderfully, like Shuichi was sure they never would again, even though his gut feeling told him differently. A mess of nerves and excitement, the boy could feel his skin heat up again. Luckily prince Ouma decided to torment him with dramatic compliments followed by dramatic insults about his appearance, making Shuichi laugh softly at both his own expense and the purple haired male that obviously was trying his best to lift the awkward tension. 

Kokichi had fallen silent, making Saihara frown a little in confusion, before holding both of his hands out to the other and asking him to dance with him. There was no music in the room besides the still slight tapping of soft rain against the big window, covered by light curtains that let through the slightest bit of light and made for a nicely dim lit atmosphere, and the ticking of the clock that Shuichi had grown used to by now. He had accepted those hands, taken them, even though the male himself had no experience dancing. Sure, when he was little his parents would take him to feasts in their town where there would be a large bonfire lit and people would basically dance around it, but he had been young and well… cute back then to make up for the fact that he definitely didn’t know what he was doing. Still, Kokichi had grabbed onto his hands gratefully, and told him about that fact that he’d gotten dance lessons from a friend of his when he was younger as well, and he still remembered them. Although both of them were a little clumsy, it didn’t take long for Shuichi to be twirled around in the room in a haze of giggles and embarrassing or sweet comments. The prince’s eyes were on his, and Shuichi’s eyes couldn’t be taken off of the male he was dancing with, even when the both of them grew tired from the constant movement and repeating of a soft swaying and somewhat elegant dance to the rhythm of the clock since they had nothing else to keep up their steps with. The bluenette had to admit, he was having fun, not being so on guard for a change.

Once they were both tired and changed back into their usual attire, sitting down on the male’s bed and talking among themselves about whatever came to mind, Ouma had dared to ask something that had been on his mind the whole time. Or well, he basically ordered it, is all. The prince hadn’t really felt that up to having to dance with the snobby rich girls from town, that would look at him with the knowledge of gold in their dull and boring eyes and would know not to chat about anything else than becoming the perfect obedient wife, even if he wouldn’t be able to change his father’s mind on having to do so. After all, some day he was going to be on the throne when both of his parents wouldn’t be able to do this anymore, and he would need a significant other when that time came. That didn’t mean he wouldn’t try his best to oppose his parents the most he could, though; with a sly smile, the male asked Shuichi to come as his partner to the ball, since he would chose his company over any other dull person his father could come up with. 

Things swiftly went downhill from there on. Servants rushing around the castle made a loud fuss and alarmed the two males that were abruptly shaken out of their intertwined lazy and peaceful minds, and it didn’t take long for either of them to rush out to the hall to see what all the ruckus was about. Kirumi was again the maid with the most responsibility that forced Shuichi to help her with carrying a body, which was Rantaro’s, as Shuichi noticed with a shock. He had a faint crimson trickling down his head as if he had fallen, and smelled like smoke. There were small burnings visible near his hand area, and he was completely unconscious it seemed. Still, Tojo told him that he was in fact still breathing, and should be brought to the royal nurse.

On their way to the nurse’s office that was somewhat in the back of the castle, which couldn’t be all too practical but Saihara decided not to comment on it, the silver haired maid decided to tell him a bit about what had happened. Shuichi was a bit shaken up from coming eye to eye with his friend like this and still was shaking a bit, trying to hold onto the limbs of the male well enough to carry him. Everyone around them was in a panic and in a rush and he didn’t know what was going on, it frightened him in a way nothing else could. ‘Rantaro’s room was found being lit on fire’, the maid had told him with a voice that suggested nothing more than good manners to the woman, and it was a little unsettling if he had to be honest. Apparently people that decided to go to their rooms early to try and rest up for the party that would be the following day, had smelled something that didn’t seem quite right. So when some of them went to investigate, they found the door of Amami wasn’t locked like it often was, and instead was still slightly opened. The sight they were met with must have been worse than the sight that Shuichi was met with, since Tojo had managed to clean the male up a little and only wounds were visible so far. 

Despite the guy being somewhat heavy, neither of the two servants faltered even a step as they carried him. Upon coming to the nurse’s office, which seemed to have been decorated by the lady herself, the nurse immediately understood that she had to work fast, and made the two lay Rantaro on the bed that was placed here among three others. Shuichi wasn’t one to be able to handle gore really well, even if he eventually would have been met with it on a daily basis if he became a detective, but he couldn’t pry his eyes off of his friend as Tsumiki was taking care of the burns with different ointments and things like those. Mikan Tsumiki was a clumsy and slightly strange person, but at doctoring she excelled definitely, so Amami was in good hands. As soon as their help wasn’t needed anymore, Kirumi excused herself to be able to help the other servants clean up Amami’s room that now was quite a mess because of the burn that had just happened to it. 

Shuichi stayed, however, and simply sat on a chair that Mikan eventually pulled towards him, as he watched the unconscious green haired servant. Rantaro had trusted him enough to show him his books, his years worth of travels and research and interactions, and it was all gone now. Perhaps it even was the bluenette’s fault. If Rantaro had been more secretive, more careful and didn’t spend so much time with the aspiring detective, perhaps something like this wouldn’t have happened. It was a ridiculous thought, but still, he wasn’t sure whether it could be true or not. After all, a fire doesn’t just start itself, definitely not to a guy that was as smart as Amami. It must have been started by someone at least, and that thought was terrifying. Having to be suspicious of others wasn’t a hobby of Shuichi’s, and yet, if someone were to ask him who he thought might have been connected to this case, he wouldn’t hesitate to speak the name of the blue haired guest that Kokichi had warned him about. 

Saihara had stayed in the room until late in the night, missing dinner as he didn’t feel like leaving the boy’s side. Mikan had brought him a sandwich she had kept for herself since she used to get too stuck on work as well sometimes and forget to eat, and she didn’t question why the bluenette was staying in the room with the other. He was even pretty sure he had seen the purple locks of Kokichi peak behind the glass that connected the hall to this room, but it may have been his imagination hoping to see the prince again. It was a nice thought that he as well was concerned, though. Even if he didn’t ask about it, Tsumiki told him about the different wounds that Rantaro had, and strangely enough it was kind of comforting to hear her talk about it. Saihara would’ve been sure that he would’ve been grossed out normally, but right now he couldn’t be more happy than to hear those things, since it meant that Mikan knew what she was doing. Rantaro was getting the help he needed. Shuichi wouldn’t be able to forgive himself if things went wrong for the male. 

When darkness overtook the room, Shuichi was slowly sinking away in the chair he was sitting on, his sleepy mind unable to keep him awake by himself. The chair wasn’t comfortable and he surely would’ve felt it in his back and in his neck if the purple haired nurse didn’t wake him carefully, to tell him that sleeping was important if he wanted to be there for his friend and he should retreat to his own dorm for the moment. It was an advice he reluctantly listened to. Still, even before he was supposed to be getting breakfast, Saihara had woken up and put his crinkled uniform and rushed to the nurse’s room. He had shocked Mikan awake with the way he had desperately thrown open the door, and strangely enough  _ she  _ tried to apologize towards him at the moment he wanted to apologize to her for waking her up like that. 

That’s were Shuichi found himself now, still grasping onto the cold hand of Amami, eyes filled with worry. Mikan had told him that the boy was stable and that he would wake up soon, but he didn’t seem to be waking up, and what if she was wrong? What if Rantaro did die, and it would be Shuichi’s fault? He wasn’t there, he was having fun with prince Ouma, but if he’d simply gone back to his room earlier he maybe would have been able to get Amami out of the tough situation. It was an unreasonable way of thinking, but he couldn’t stop it anyway. Even though the male was wrapped in blankets and was being kept an eye on by the nurse, he seemed cold. Or maybe Shuichi himself was warm for a change. He hoped that was the case. 

‘U-uh, here, m-mister Saihara, y-you seemed to be n-needing it’, the timid voice of the girl spoke up, as Shuichi snapped his gaze to where the noise was coming from. With both of her hands Mikan was holding a cup, carefully reaching it out to Shuichi. Blinking, the bluenette let go of Amami’s hand for a bit to take the cup, and brought it to sniff what exactly she was giving him; it seemed to be some type of tea. The liquid was warm, warming his hands as well, and he felt strangely relaxed as he looked down at it. He had been cold himself, and he felt tired, as he brought the cup to his lips and took a sip. The liquid burned his throat in a somewhat pleasant way, and made him relax a little bit. He forced a small smile on his face as he eyed the woman again, and nodded towards her. ‘Thank you so much, I’m sorry for being trouble…’, the servant muttered bashfully. 

Mikan’s eyes widened significantly as she frowned a bit and frantically shook her head and hands no. ‘N-no no! Y-you’re not trouble! I don’t o-often have company here, I d-don’t mind!’, the girl squeaked out, wearing a hesitant smile as she said so, and sat down on another chair that was in the room. Shuichi hummed softly as he heard that, and drank some more of the hot beverage, filling his unhappily growling stomach. He supposed that being a nurse and working with gory scenes all the time meant you had less time to be friends with those around you. It was a bit sad though. Tsumiki didn’t seem like she had the best self-image so to say, so perhaps having a friend could do her some good.

‘Do you have a lot of work here?’, the bluenette asked her both out of curiosity and out of the fact that he was kind of glad to have his mind off of the situation with Amami for even just a second. ‘O-oh, well…’, the girl started off, playing with her own fingers nervously as she bit her lip and looked down at her lab. It was obvious she wasn’t asked to talk about herself quite a lot, and that was a bit sad as well to think about. ‘normally I don’t, j-just cases of the flu a-and things like those. G-giving out small advises s-so now and then. B-but now I got a l-lot more busy!’. The female nurse seemed a bit more excited as she said so, her smile growing a bit. Then her smile fell as she had a more ashamed expression on her face. ‘I-I’m not happy ab-about more p-people getting s-sick! I-I’m just glad I can b-be a bit more helpful…’. 

Ever since Shirogane came to the castle, it did seem like Mikan had been a little more busy, that was true. Shuichi could understand the fact that being among more people would be nice, even if it were under harsh circumstances, so he didn’t blame the girl for enjoying her work. Still, the thought of Shirogane coming in this office made the male feel a little uneasy. Mikan would probably be easy to manipulate, and it would be best if that didn’t happen. 

‘Hey, Tsumiki, this may be a weird request and I’d be happy if you wouldn’t repeat it to anyone’, the bluenette said in a soft voice, trusting the easily terrified woman not to do so in any case. She hesitantly nodded but shielded her body a little bit, which was understandable in a way. ‘If the guest, miss Shirogane wants to enter this place, please don’t get too close to her or listen to her. Try to avoid her, if you can, alright?’. Although she seemed to want to question this, the nurse only nodded a bit, with a careful smile. ‘O-of course, mister S-Saihara’, she responded politely. 

Soft knocks on the glass shook him out of his focus on making sure that the nurse was telling the truth, and Shuichi turned his head, to be met with the sight of the purple haired prince’s displeased face behind the glass. He was short enough to probably have to stand on his tippy toes to do so, and it wouldn’t surprise the servant if this was the case right now. He also knew that Kokichi apparently didn’t enjoy waiting that much, so he excused himself, and took a last glance at Rantaro, before making his way to the door of the office. Mikan bid him farewell with a soft gesture, telling him that she hoped to see him there again, although that was followed by a lot of apologising for the possible insinuation. 

Ouma was leaning against the wall a bit, arms crossed over his chest as he didn’t even look at Shuichi, and it made the male a little anxious. ‘How long have you been in there?’, was the first question the prince asked him as Saihara closed the door behind him, keeping a hold of the handle. ‘Uhm… yesterday I went to bed fairly late, I don’t remember the exact time. And this morning I woke up early to get here’, the bluenette confessed calmly, biting his lip softly as he fumbled with his hands that were now dragged to his sides. A sigh left the prince’s lips, and he turned to him with a small glare. ‘At least tell me you ate’. Nervously the servant chuckled, scratching his neck sheepishly, ‘Well, about that…’. 

Very suddenly his hands were grabbed and held by the warm ones that belonged to Ouma, as those purple painted eyes that he had grown to trust and perhaps even admire stared into his own tenderly. It was strange to see him like this, that for sure, although it was happening a lot more often lately now that Shuichi thought about it. ‘Shuichi, you’re a bad liar, so you shouldn’t try to lie to yourself’, the prince started, basically giving a jab at the boy, but Saihara would have expected no less from the other. ‘You’re either here because you have a massive love for Amami or you feel guilty, and since that love is obviously for me, neehee, it’s the last option’, Kokichi pointed out, ignoring the complaints from the servant at what he was saying. 

The bluenette shook his head, and tried to step back. ‘N-no, it’s not like that, I just want to stay by my friend’s side, is all’. Kokichi tilted his head, his expression unreadable. ‘Wow. You are a shit liar’, he noticed, a small smile playing on the male’s lips, although the aspiring detective couldn’t be sure what emotion this was expressing in any case. It felt like he was being berated with care, and the sensation was strange. As though Ouma could look right through him, and he had not many doubts that this was in fact true. Fate had pushed him so much into the prince’s direction already after all, it wouldn’t make that much of a difference anymore. ‘Well, Saihara-chan. I’ll ask you this. Did you start the fire in Ranran’s room?’, the voice of Kokichi broke the short silence that Shuichi had left him in while thinking about things. 

Shuichi shook his head slowly, looking down at his own feet. He knew where this was heading, and he wasn’t gonna like it. Ouma was going to be right of course, and he wouldn’t want to listen to him. ‘Well then, I’m pretty sure you’re not at fault now, are you?’, the prince continued with a sly smile now, nudging the other softly. ‘Hey. My dear old daddy’s convinced that one of the servants may have done the job, so he’s letting Chihiro and Sayaka check out the rooms a bit later today, since their alibis check out. They’ll figure out soon enough the blue haired bitch is behind this and then everything will be fine’, the purplenette promised him, a sweet gesture, even if Shuichi could tell that he wasn’t entirely sure about that statement himself either. 

Still holding one of the servant’s hands, Kokichi pulled him forward a bit, already turned on his heels and ready to walk away from the office where Mikan was still tending to the unconscious Rantaro. ‘W-wait, where are we going?’, Shuichi questioned as he was gradually getting further and further away from the office, and Kokichi only looked over his shoulder, blowing a raspberry like the obviously mature person he was. ‘I’m taking your mind off of things, mister! It’s not good to keep thinking about things you can’t change anyway’, Ouma explained as he quickened his pace and snickered softly as Saihara almost tripped over his own feet when he did this, rushing down the stairs to the first floor of the castle. Still, the servant had to admit that he was probably right. He couldn’t do anything more for Rantaro than letting Mikan do her job right now, after all. A bit of distraction couldn’t be too bad of an idea. 

The two of them were walking down halls, all while Shuichi glanced over the paintings that he had gotten used to. He was faintly aware that Kokichi was watching him do this with a curiosity, and the male hummed softly. ‘You keep looking at those works like they’re the most interesting images of old wrinkly people you’ve ever seen’, the prince noticed out loud, although it wasn’t exactly in a teasing tone; more a curious one. Shuichi cleared his throat and shrugged a bit so far as he was able to, and gave an embarrassed smile to the other. ‘Well, I think a painting holds a lot more than just an image. It holds a story, a person’, the detective explained, his voice growing a little more silent. ‘Not everyone is as they appear. They might look mean or evil at first glance, but when you get more used to the paintings, you start to notice small things that prove these theories wrong. And perhaps the work you and everyone around you had thought of was one of a bad person, turns out to be far different from what you would have expected. It is fascinating, really’.   
  
Their pace of walking had slowed a bit, and Shuichi was staring right at Kokichi like the other male was doing to him, able to see the slightest tint of red at his ears, before he turned his head again. ‘Wow, that’s stupid, over analyzing paintings like that’, the male told him. Saihara was fairly sure this was a defensive lie of the other, and for now he decided not to comment on it. The most important part was that Kokichi understood how he thought about him, even if he wasn’t fully able to show it in actions. 

Kokichi stopped walking and stood still in front of the door that Shuichi realised was his own bedroom, together with the plate that spelled Shuichi Saihara in pretty letters onto it. They both stood still as they stared at the door, and it took a little while for Kokichi to nudge the male next to him. ‘Hey, aren’t you gonna invite me in, Saihara-chan?’, the purple haired trickster asked innocently, batting his eyelashes. The servant’s eyes widened a bit as he again could feel his face grow hot, and he took a step back. ‘W-wait, what? Why?’, he asked, suspiciously. Kokichi slumped down a bit and rolled his eyes, sticking out his tongue towards the other again. ‘Wow, no need to freak out! Unless you have some kinky things in there, because I will definitely make fun of those’. A smirk formed on the boy’s lips, and Shuichi could only shake his head no frantically as he got defensive. ‘I don’t! I just- it’s sudden’, Saihara explained, scratching his neck softly. 

Kokichi laughed his signature laugh that the servant grew to enjoy, and grasped onto the doorknob, wiggling his brows at the other. ‘Now is your last chance to hide those detailed plans of how to wipe this whole kingdom off the earth, Shuu-chan’, Ouma said, dramatic as always, and he pulled open the door to be… a bit underwhelmed. 

‘Wow, this really is boring’, the purplenette complained as he realised that the room hadn’t been changed in the slightest bit from when Shuichi had arrived here, except for the backpack that was still laying on a chair in the corner of the room. His face lit up a bit as he rushed to it, and Saihara still tried to stop him by saying it was a personal item that Ouma was going to spit through, but of course the smaller male didn’t listen. Although he knew his boundaries, he wasn’t one to actually care that much about privacy it seemed. 

‘Ah, the infamous notebook’, Kokichi muttered as he took a hold of the journal, before tossing it aside. With a thud it landed onto Shuichi’s bed, and the servant made a distressed noise, rushing over to check if the pages were still intact and if nothing was ripped out in this way. He had dropped the book before so hopefully it could take a little bit of force, but still. ‘Your edgy outfit…’, Ouma continued with a bored yawn, taking out the grey shirt and dark pants that Shuichi had been wearing upon his arrival here, although something in his eyes told him that the boy thought more of them than he was letting on. Again the bluenette made a displeased noise, but was fairly sure he couldn’t stop the other from looking through his stuff anyway, so he wouldn’t bother either. It wasn’t like he had something to hide either. 

‘Ooh! I didn’t know you were into fashion, Saihara!’, the prince suddenly called out as he came to the last object that had been in the bag. Dangling from the leather string that had been made into a necklace was the strange charm, one that Shuichi could never realise what the form meant of. It was a bit circular, with some pieces sticking out of it. ‘Huh. Interesting’, Ouma continued, holding it closer to his eyes as he roamed over the object, trying to identify it. ‘What’s it mean?’. The male was more like an excited kid finding out about something new than anything else. Shuichi cleared his throat softly and chuckled awkwardly, sitting down a bit more comfortably as he watched the other from across the room. ‘I... I’m not sure what it means, actually’, he admitted with a sigh. 

The purple haired trickster frowned a bit as he folded his arms over his chest, still holding the necklace in one hand but paying more attention to the other boy in the room. ‘What? Why would you buy something you don’t know the meaning of? That’s stupid, Saihara, even for you’, the male snarled softly, his expression betraying however that he didn’t fully mean to say it like that. Even though the comment stung a little bit, Shuichi knew that he didn’t mean to offend the other, at least not in a way a mean person would try to, so he ignored it. ‘Well, I didn’t buy it myself’, he responded with a small shrug. ‘A… a friend of mine gifted it for one of my birthdays. I’ve kept it with me ever since’. 

The room grew silent for a moment, noises of servants rushing around the castle outside of it the only hearable sound, apart from the both of their breathing. ‘A friend? I thought you said you didn’t have any friends back home’, Kokichi commented, walking over to where Shuichi was sitting, and taking a seat next to him as he watched the other while they talked. ‘Well, I only had one friend’, Saihara corrected himself, scratching his arm softly. ‘But I don’t like to think about it… I’m pretty sure I’ll probably never see him again’, he chuckled humorlessly. A soft hand stopped him from creating small scratches on his arm, and the prince’s hand cupped his skin softly, nonverbally telling him to listen to him. ‘What was he like?’, the purple haired male asked gently, an actual interest in his voice. Usually Kokichi got bored of having to listen to others fairly easily, but for some reason Saihara managed to keep his attention. 

Shuichi smiled a little bit to himself as he thought about it. Kiibo had been a little like him, in the end. The people in their town didn’t like him either, and he managed just fine with his girlfriend and his nice home. He did what he felt like doing, spending time working to pay the bills and spending time with his girl whenever he felt like she deserved some extra love simply for being her; although he often looked like a robot that had no emotions, he was one of the most sincere and practical people that Saihara knew, even if he wouldn’t show it through words, but through actions. He was logical, and he was smart, if not a bit narcissistic at times. That was no problem to Shuichi though; it was kind of fun to listen to his stories about what he had been going through from a day to day bases when they were drinking in the back of the only bar that let them in freely without having to worry that the bartender would spit in one of their drinks. Even if he thought fairly high of himself he would always help Saihara if he simply asked for it, and he was a sweet person overall. An interesting conversationalist, that for sure. It was sad to think he probably wasn’t going to see him again, but he was fine knowing that he was well and okay with his girlfriend back in Shuichi’s hometown.

‘You would’ve loved him’, Saihara responded truthfully, with a sad smile and a nod. ‘You’d definitely find a way to mess with him, that for sure’. The response ripped a giggle from the prince’s throat, as he laid back lazily on the servant’s bed. ‘Ah, you know me so well, Saihara-chan’, he sighed with faked emotion in his voice, as he undoubtedly made himself tear up hearing this. ‘Don’t cry in my bed, please. I’d like to keep it clean’, the servant said calmly, nudging his side softly as the other lay down, and the boy moaned unhappily. ‘Wow, you’re so cruel, Saihara! Waaah!’, the boy whined out, creating the big tears to drop from his eyes just as a revenge for Shuichi saying that, and all the bluenette could do was chuckle softly. He wouldn’t be able to change Kokichi after all, so he could’ve expected this. He didn’t want to change him either way. The Kokichi he had came to know was definitely good enough for him. 

After cleaning up the mess that Kokichi had made in his room, so basically putting his clothes, notebook and necklace back into the backpack where he liked to keep his stuff, Ouma made Shuichi have lunch in the servant dining room, managing to basically freak every servant in there out since the last time he had been inside of the servant dining room was when he pulled a prank on them in there. Destiny had joined them and stolen some food from Shuichi’s plate; the prince had found it the most hilarious thing he had seen all day, and the bluenette decided he couldn’t stay mad at the cat as she kind of reminded him of the tricky purplenette sitting in front of him and watching him making sure he was eating. 

Eventually it was still time for the party to begin. Guests were slowly arriving at the gates and entering, and Shuichi was a little overwhelmed by all the faces he was seeing and tried to remember when they introduced themselves to one another. Everyone looked straight up from some romance novels he had read before, the pretty princess falling for a not-so-rich male from the village when there are many very wealthy men and women for her to choose from. Kokichi had been with Shuichi basically the whole day to distract him from the happening with Rantaro and he succeeded fairly well, but now he needed to be with his parents since he was actually obligated to go to the party himself as well this time. It felt a bit strange for the bluenette to not have Amami at his side, and neither Chihiro was there since he was supposed to be checking the rooms with Sayaka later on. Shuichi understood that Ouma couldn’t just tell his parents that Shirogane was at fault for being a witch, since his identity would also be easy to uncover and his cover would get blown by the blue haired lady. They could only hope that she would leave soon. There was nothing here for her to gain. Well, of course destruction, since Saihara remembered reading about that in one of Rantaro’s old books before they got destroyed, but since she had already lit his room on fire, there couldn’t be much more she wanted to destroy, could there be?

The servants had to make rash decisions for who would bring what food to which ballroom, since there were more guests than they had expected to come; they had thought that perhaps half of them wouldn’t have listened to the invention and stayed at home, but strangely enough it seemed as though every wealthy man, woman and child had decided that going to the feast would be a good idea. Jewelry of the ladies and glasses and watches of the men reflected the chandelier lights in the tall and massive rooms, making Shuichi’s head feel a little funny. He was pretty sure he hadn’t ever seen so much expensive articles in one room, and that was saying something since he had been working at the big castle for a little while now. Kirumi had called him over from greeting guests at the hall to helping serve food in one of the ballrooms, since they didn’t seem to have enough servants working for them there. Although the bluenette was tempted to say that the rich people could grab their food themselves, he complied to her request, and now he stood there a little awkwardly since it seemed that the wealthy citizens indeed could handle grabbing food very well themselves and after a little while the aspiring detective wasn’t even asked anymore which food exactly they served for the occasion. 

Being with a lot of people in one place wasn’t his greatest hobby, but at least the ballroom was big enough for him to feel like he could breathe a bit. Guests were still arriving and Saihara could only guess what a mess it must have been for the king and queen to deal with. He didn’t have the pleasure of seeing Kokichi back in the nice clothes that he had picked out for him the day before, and he supposed the male would be quite disappointed to see that Shuichi eventually decided not to look like an idiot and wear a dress. 

The male was really only counting the seconds to himself and managing to steal some small spoons of the pudding that had been made since it was really,  _ really  _ good and he was sad that he wasn’t actually allowed to eat it, when someone suddenly appeared in front of him and startled the male into dropping his piece of silverware to the floor with a guilty conscience. ‘S-sorry, I-’, the servant started his apology while bowing to whatever pretentious person could be standing in front of him, when he noticed the sweet lavender scent that filled his nostrils, and made him pause mid sentence as he looked up at him. 

‘Prince Ouma?’, he questioned, and yes, the soft face that smirked back at him, those purple locks and the deep purple eyes that stared into his soul, those definitely belonged to Kokichi. ‘You getting tired of seeing my face yet?’, the prince hummed softly as he ran a hand through his hair, and didn’t comment on the fact that Shuichi was trying to secretly eat pudding from the table since other servants were nearby, but he did snicker quietly because of this. ‘Yeah’, he responded absentmindedly as his eyes couldn’t help but to run from the male’s outfit to his face. It definitely looked good. For some reason he fitted right in with the others in the room, as well as standing out completely. It only made the sly smirk on the prince’s face grow a bit as he held out his hand again. ‘Dear Saihara-chan, will you save me from these boring people and have this dance? Pretty please?’. 

With only the littlest bit of hesitation since he was supposed to be doing his job as a servant, Shuichi took the hand that was extended to him. He made a startled noise again as Kokichi pulled him forward towards the dancefloor, swirling him like the others were doing to the music. Although with their movements they would fit right in, people were still glancing at them, since it were both dudes, one of them a servant and one of them a prince dancing together, so of course that was a little strange to the others. Still, Shuichi tried not to pay attention to that for a change and instead to pay attention to the person in front of him, that was looking at him as if he was holding the most precious thing he’d ever seen in his hands. Well, it wasn’t his expression that told this tale, since he looked fairly calm, but the glint in his eye that Shuichi now could identify like nothing else. 

‘So, how is your evening so far?’, Shuichi asked at a slower song. Kokichi’s left hand was holding onto his, holding it near their chest as his right was loosely wrapped around the other’s waist, and Shuichi had placed his free hand on the male’s shoulder like he’d seen the ladies around him doing. They weren’t really paying attention to the two of them anymore, apparently understanding that it was just a.. friendly moment. ‘Oh, it was just horrible’, Ouma responded in a soft voice, with a small smile on his face. ‘I had to chat up pretentious little snobs all evening, and all they could talk about was being wife material. They can’t even take a joke’, the purplenette sighed softly, rolling his eyes a bit. Shuichi laughed quietly as he thought about it, earning a pinch in his side from the male, making him squeak quietly as he was in fact ticklish; it seemed that Ouma counted that as a victory. ‘Well, I suppose your idea of a joke can get a little extreme’, Shuichi responded to his earlier speech, making the boy grumble softly about the bluenette being a traitor and that he should be on his side. 

‘So, how has your evening been so far, staring at the rich women and trying to subtly steal pudding from the tables in the back?’, Kokichi asked with a soft chuckle, seeing the bluenette’s face redden a little as he huffed and tried to excuse himself. ‘I wasn’t  _ stealing!  _ I was just… tasting…’, the servant tried to justify his actions with an embarrassed expression, since if Ouma had noticed, perhaps others had seen as well. ‘Sure. Well, I suppose your idea of not-stealing can get a little extreme’, the purplenette mocked him with a sly grin, not phased by the push against his shoulder that he received from the grumpy servant. 

The two fell silent, noticing the soft tunes of the piano being played beautifully in the room, and there was no need to talk either way. People were happily chatting among themselves while dancing in the large room, dressed beautifully like Shuichi strangely admired yet loathed, although all he could focus on was the person in front of him, giving him a genuine smile as he was swayed through the room like the hopefully fateful men were doing with their wives as well, following the lead of the many other human beings in the room that knew exactly what they were doing. Saihara, he couldn’t dance that well, but for some reason it felt like he knew exactly what he was doing as well. It felt right, being held by the other in a way like this, although he couldn’t help the small sense of dread that filled his stomach. It felt like one of those moments where he wanted to life in the moment, knowing that soon enough things would change for them. Things couldn’t stay perfect forever, no matter how much he hoped they would. 

Almost as if the thought triggered something in the universe to happen, the male felt a hand on his shoulder that wasn’t Kokichi’s, and he looked back a little shocked to be met with the king looking down a bit at him. Ouma stepped back from him with an apologetic look send momentarily to Shuichi before it changed back into his usual grin that he wore around his parents. ‘I think it may be time for you to leave here, not all servants are needed’, the king spoke calmly, although it definitely was an order. Even if he apologized for his behavior lord Ouma wasn’t that glad with the fact that his son would rather spend time with a servant than to look for a future wife in the crowd. Although the purple haired prince tried to speak against his parents, the king gave him a sharp glare, and he held up his hands mockingly like he was being held under fire, rolling his eyes. Shuichi understood. It was time for him to leave. 

Without another word to anyone in the room Saihara left, and made his way back to his own room in the castle. He was lost in thought for no reason whatsoever. He had a fun time with the prince today, that was true, but this still had him thinking. He was a servant after all. He wasn’t sure if the bond he had with the other male was exactly appropriate, simply because their standards were very different because of the way they lived. Ouma was expected to one day rule over the kingdom and make the wisest decisions to keep his people satisfied and alive, and Shuichi was simply expected to clean rooms whenever he was asked to, until he would die at the hands of his work and old age. Their lives must have differed far too much for their friendship to make sense, and yet it did. Even with on one side the liar of a prince that loved tricks and had a secret that could destroy himself if it came, and on the other side an aspiring detective that has been loathed his whole life and now turned out to be nothing more than a simple servant, things worked in a strangely right way. But it wouldn’t forever, obviously. 

With a sigh the bluenette reached his door, grabbing onto the doorknob and biting his lip a bit. Maybe it was better not to think about this yet, and just to go on with things like he had done before, go with the flow in a way. He wasn’t great at that, but he could try to. It was fun for as long as it would last, maybe. With a slight hesitation he pulled open the door to his room, but froze at the sight he was met with. 

Of course he remembered the fact that both the servants Maizono and Fujisaki would look through every servant and guest room to see if they could find the culprit of the fire that was started in Rantaro’s room, and he hadn’t worried too much about it. After all, he kept no matches or such in his room, so it wouldn’t be that much of a problem for them to look through his room swiftly and then leave again. The things he did have wouldn’t seem interesting enough to pick up anyway, definitely when they had to hurry to check every single room before the feast would be over and everyone would want to sleep, tired from having to be there the whole time. 

Still, the sight of the servant Chihiro, with whom he had become friends during the time of his stay at the castle, holding onto Shuichi’s notebook with a frightened expression on his face as it was opened on one of the later pages, was something that startled Saihara. 

‘Uhm, Chihiro?’, He muttered softly, stepping towards him, but it was to no use. The male was sweating, he seemed to be a little shaky, as he gripped onto the page he had been reading with a strong grip. ‘S-so it is true’, the brunette whispered, his eyes wide as he stared at the other in the room, that was starting to fear the outcome of this conversation as well. ‘Prince Ouma.. prince Ouma… is a witch!’, the smaller male called out, the sound echoing through the room like nothing else could, a pained and strained voice that knew nothing but fear at this revelation. 


	13. Even nice people do Awful things when they're Scared.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Y-you stay back, Saihara’, he repeated, and it definitely did hurt his heart for a moment to hear the other not tease him with silly nicknames and such.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Not much to say here today actually. 
> 
> Warning: a bit of gore, mentioning of burning, the usual. 
> 
> Again, I don't reread my stuff because I'm far too lazy, sorry for any grammar mistakes etc.

_ ‘Prince Ouma.. prince Ouma… is a witch!’, the smaller male called out, the sound echoing through the room like nothing else could, a pained and strained voice that knew nothing but fear at this revelation.  
_   
For a moment a silence filled the space completely, absolutely nothing was hearable except for the ragged breathing of the brunette. He was scared, Shuichi noted in his head a little late after being stunned to complete stillness and silence from the cry that had left Chihiro’s lips, he was absolutely terrified. Normally during breakfast the boy was happy and managed to make Rantaro and Shuichi speak up about themselves as well, which was something that not everyone could manage to do. He was sweet in a way, that now seemed to have completely drained from him as his pale face was lit dimly by the light in Saihara’s room. He was sweating a bit, the bluenette now noticed as well, and if he wasn’t mistaking the boy was trying not to shake. This Fujisaki is one he had never seen before, and quite honestly, it was a little frightening, if not sad for the male himself. 

‘Chihiro..’, Shuichi started softly, stepping forward and holding out his hands towards the other servant that was sitting on the floor, hoping it would be able to seem not so threatening so the boy could calm down. However, as he did so, Fujisaki only crawled back a bit with the notebook still clamped in his hands and pressed to his chest, wide eyes glossing over. ‘S-stay back’, the male hissed out, his legs crossing together as he shrunk down a bit more to the floor, although he held out his hand as he pointed towards him. ‘Y-you stay back, Saihara’, he repeated, and it definitely did hurt his heart for a moment to hear the other not tease him with silly nicknames and such. 

Shuichi gulped softly, shaking his head a bit as he took a step back towards the door like the servant had asked him to do basically. ‘Chihiro, I promise you, you don’t understand. Let me explain, alright?’, the blue haired servant asked carefully, feeling himself grow a little more nervous as the brunette wasn’t responding. The other bit his lip, balling his fist at his side as with the other he still kept the journal that Shuichi wished he would simply let go off. He probably shouldn’t have written in it to begin with. It had been a stupid idea; why was Saihara so set on learning from every experience and keeping track of all mysteries that interested him? Only bad things could result from that, obviously. ‘Since you’re not saying anything, I’ll take that as a yes’, the taller servant murmured hesitantly, slowly lowering himself onto the floor so he could sit with his eye level on about the same height as the brunette, hopefully creating a less intimidating atmosphere. 

‘So, to answer your suspicions, yes, Kokichi is a witch’, the bluenette started out with his explanation, keeping his voice low so that anyone that may be listening in on them wouldn’t be able to hear him. It seemed not to be a great approach, since Chihiro swallowed thickly and avoided his eye contact. ‘...Kokichi?’, he questioned, his voice sharp as he spoke the first name of the heir to the throne of Lavender Kingdom, and Shuichi took a deep breath, trying to keep himself from responding too hastily. ‘Prince Ouma, I mean’, he excused his slip up, folding his arms together and sitting back a bit as he tried to focus on any other sound in the room than the uneven breathing of the scared boy in the room. He was obviously trying to keep himself seem strong now, but he wasn’t fully succeeding. ‘But- he’s not bad! He’s a good person. He’s still Kokichi Ouma, the prince of the royal family and the heir to the throne of this kingdom’, Shuichi continued to explain, nodding to confirm the story. 

Fujisaki stayed silent for a moment, still not looking into Saihara’s eyes. The servant could remember a time where he would gladly spend time with the other, and where they were particularly close friends together with Amami as well. But now the green haired male was in the nurse’s office in the castle since something had happened to him on the night that his bookshelf got set on fire, the night before this one. And he wouldn’t wish to think of it, but this notebook said something about a curse with Kokichi’s blood that was actually related to fire. After all, they hadn’t found anything that indicated someone had burned his room in any other way, so what if it  _ was  _ the witch’s fault? Ever since the start of Chihiro working here he had his suspicions on Ouma that he quickly silenced his mind to since the guy was someone he was working for. After all, Sayaka was of course not a witch even though she had weird humor about being a physic or something like that, so not everything that looks a certain way is per definition that certain thing in the end. But now things changed. Chihiro wasn’t the only one. Here was written about Shuichi’s experiences with the other, things that made him think the male was a witch, and the thought had been confirmed at a certain point in time. 

‘Chihiro?’, Shuichi carefully called his name again, his voice quivering a bit. It was fear that the male was feeling, and honestly, if it concerned Fujisaki, he deserved that fear. He had been aware of the fact that Ouma was a creature that didn’t belong on this earth, and had not shared this to others in the castle. He had essentially brought everyone around him in danger with this. It wouldn’t surprise Chihiro if Shuichi turned out to be some witch as well, and the thought was frightening. He had been friends with him. Friends with the same of those monsters that had gotten to his friend Taka back when he used to live close to outside of the kingdom. Taka, that had learned him things like planning and scheduling like a dork, but as well had learned him how to trust and be comfortable with himself. His friend Mondo that he hadn’t spoken to in quite a while had handled the news just as bad as Fujisaki had. It was the witch, the witch that had lived outside of the kingdom, Junko Enoshima. The name alone made the boy’s skin crawl, and the idea of someone he trusted being some despicable creature like that woman was… small tears started to form in the male’s eyes as he stood up. 

‘Wait, Chihiro, what are you doing?’, Shuichi asked a bit worriedly, his eyes a bit wide as it seemed like Fujisaki was leaving. In the back of his mind a thought, but more of a memory creeped to the surface, taking over his logical thought process with a whisper as if he was absentmindedly always and already aware of what was going on, but he wanted to ignore it. 

_ ‘Okay, then you can’t repeat what I will tell you to anyone’, Amami told him, his eyes darkening a little bit more, almost threateningly. ‘You need to understand, even the people who you think you can trust the most have different ways of thinking than you and I, do you understand?’. _

Chihiro did seem like an understanding person. He would understand that Kokichi was still a normal person like he was himself, and that nothing was wrong with him having some inhuman qualities, right? ‘The others need to know’, Fujisaki responded, grippin onto the pages of the journal as if he wanted to rip them out, but not quite doing so. ‘Wait-’, the bluenette shrieked as he as well got up from the floor, standing a bit unsteadily on his legs. ‘You can’t do that- you’d bring Ouma in danger, please!’. The brunette however huffed, an expression on his face that Shuichi wouldn’t have expected to ever see on there, and it stung. Disgust. Loathing. Distrust. A mixture of the most horrible things that reminded him completely of back when he lived in the town that Kiibo was still staying at, and everyone he would meet on the streat would stare at him with this mixture of emotions on their face. For a long time Shuichi had hated having to look people in the eye solely because of this, and now someone who he deemed a friend was doing the same to him, and it  _ stung.  _

‘I’m bringing prince Ouma in danger?’, Chihiro asked, folding his arms and with that as well pressing the notebook back to his chest. He wasn’t aware of the fact that some of the pages were ripping a little, but the sound of paper tearing a bit and being ruffled like that made Shuichi mentally cringe. ‘Don’t speak to me about endangering those around you!’, Fujisaki then snapped, startling the other servant out of his thoughts. He was mad. He really was angry, genuinely. It was a strange sight to be met with, and Shuichi could only guess it wouldn’t be the last time he would be surprised like this. ‘Chihiro, you need to believe me, Kokichi isn’t dangerous! He’s normal, he’s kind, even’, Shuichi basically whined out to try and let the brunette understand, but his eyes stayed filled with hatred. ‘If you tell the others, he’s going to be punished for something he can’t help!’. Fujisaki was too kind for this. He had too much gentleness in him to be able to continue with this behavior, right? Yet, still.. he didn’t change his frightened yet determined stance.  
  
_ ‘But.. they were so nice to me… all these villagers were nice, my uncle said..’, he mumbled, mostly to himself, although Kokichi seemed to have heard him. Again the prince scoffed, and he folded his arms over his chest as he watched Shuichi mumble to himself next to him. ‘Well, even nice people do awful things when they’re scared’. It was a simple sentence, one that held more truth than Saihara was used to from Ouma, and he wasn’t sure if he was happy with this.  _

The memory forcefully entered his thought process, and it made him swallow down the lump that he felt forming in his throat. It had been the first day that Ouma had taken Shuichi out to the local market, and it had been quite fun, even if he couldn’t remember all parts of it. It was definitely nice to see his excitement over certain objects he found in the wooden small handmade stands. But that same day there had been a burning at the stake, and it had upset the bluenette quite a lot when he found out something like that still existed. And the thought that he may lose Kokichi to something like that because of a friend’s knowledge, it made a despair settle in his stomach that he couldn’t manage to drive out of there. 

‘Oh no...’, Chihiro said, stepping forward. Out of a reflex the taller servant stepped back, although he knew better than to be intimidated by his friend that surely wasn’t going to actually physically harm him. ‘You’re completely under his influence’. His voice was small, almost as if he was sorry, although the quiver indicated his fear more than anything. ‘I need to save the kingdom’, the brunette continued, his voice faltering near the end. ‘Chihiro, please’, Saihara only softly managed to plead, although the silence that followed showed that it was to no use. Chihiro had made up his mind. 

Although Shuichi had expected some more things to be said, perhaps even an apology from his friend that was about to betray him, he was startled when suddenly Fujisaki started to run. He pushed past Shuichi and out of the room, speeding up his pace as his shoes made a sound that echoed through the mostly empty castle halls. It took only a small moment for Saihara to follow suit, rushing as fast as he could with slightly longer legs and calling the brunette’s name even if it was only for the knowledge that he at least tried at this point, because he should’ve known that some ideas were not changeable to people. Kids are being raised with the idea that demons and witches were the most despicable and untrustworthy creatures that roamed the earth, even if it was simply to not get them involved with certain shady business like that, so most people had an immediate fear for them ever since their childhood. 

With an impressive speed Chihiro raced through the castle halls, passing the different paintings that the bluenette would usually stop to look at, but now nothing could slow him down as he tried to keep up with the smaller boy. ‘Chihiro!’, Shuichi called out again, his voice softer than he would’ve liked it to be. It was to no use, he knew this. He was giving up, and he shouldn’t have been. Kokichi’s life was most likely at stake, and perhaps even his own, but he couldn’t do it. He couldn’t change Fujisaki’s mind on this, simply because he didn’t have the time to convince him. Maybe he  _ had  _ actually always been the failure that his parents had believed him to be. Even when it concerned himself he couldn’t manage to make things right. 

The shorter servant ran up the several steps, managing to do so without tripping as he still had a nice grip on the journal in his hand, while the other grasped onto the stair railing that almost none of the servants really used anymore. It seemed that the place had emptied out enough for the rest of the people that were still there at the party to be able to stay in one ballroom all together. A light was shining from the end of the hall somewhere to the right and that was where Chihiro was rushing towards as if attracted to it like a bug would have been. Music and laughter was coming from the room that they were heading towards. Saihara was still stumbling up the stairs as he tried to keep track of where Fujisaki was going. Panting from having to run this much while not being used to do so, Shuichi called out for the brunette one last time to change his mind, but nothing worked. It was as if Chihiro had dropped all logic and was set on an easy mode, so to say. 

Shuichi could hear the guy he was chasing call out to the king as he entered the room they had been heading towards, and his heart sunk even worse than it had before. Although he hadn’t entered the room yet he could only guess how shocked the people were at Fujisaki’s sudden entrance, since abruptly the music that had been playing stopped and gasps were audible from where Shuichi was trying to continue running through the hall, although his limbs hurt quite the bit right now. Faintly he could hear the voice of the King call out confusedly to what was happening and Chihiro’s on fearful voice peeping out. The door had been smashed closed behind him but Saihara grabbed onto the knob anyway and opened it. Faces turned to him for only a second, in which he managed to keep their attention when he let out a somewhat shrill ‘Chihiro, please’, but after that everything went back to the show that the brunette was giving to the king. 

The smaller servant needed to catch his breath a bit as well, but fueled by his ideas it didn’t take long for him to speak up. ‘I was searching the rooms, just like you asked me to, lord Ouma. And I found something… something horrible’, Fujisaki started with a quivering voice. Shuichi hadn’t before seen a room filled with so many people we completely silent except for the occasional curious whisper so here and there. He was well aware of the fact that prince Ouma was as well present in the room, the feeling of purple eyes digging into his skin too tempting not to look at, but when he met Kokichi’s gaze, he wished he hadn’t. He looked just as worried as Shuichi was feeling at the moment. 

‘Something horrible?’, the queen spoke up, holding onto her husband’s arm a little startledly. Chihiro nodded, clearing his throat softly and stepping forward. Underneath the chandelier his innocence was only lit dimly, and Shuichi wished he wasn’t able to see it. He wished there was anyone else to blame for this moment that would’ve inevitably happened, but there was no one he could blame but himself. ‘This journal that belonged to Shuichi Saihara’, Fujisaki continued, holding it up in the light and still keeping a hold of it. The king tilted his head, folding his arms over his chest as he leaned back against his wife a bit. ‘Pardon? Why are you in possession of someone’s journal, when all you had to do was a quick search through the dorms?’, the old man asked suspiciously, and for a moment there Shuichi could feel the tenseness leave his body. Of course, why didn’t he think of that before? Against his orders, Chihiro had done more than just look through the stuff briefly. He had violated his privacy like this, and the king was obviously aware of this.   
  
Still, despite this small victory, something managed to smash all his hopes down back to the floor where they belonged. The clicking heels of someone stepping forward shook Shuichi out of his thoughts, and he eyed as the woman that made him cower back a bit was slowly walking towards the small stage type of place where the King, queen and Chihiro were conversing for everyone else to see. Tsumugi Shirogane. Her blue hair was tied back carefully and she was wearing an expensive dress like every other woman in the room, that would almost be able to take Saihara’s eyes of the hair that seemed to turn a little pink in the back. Almost. He wasn’t planning on becoming a detective without practicing spotting oddities after all. 

Because of the sudden silence in the room an upcoming storm was much more hearable from where Shuichi was standing. Although ever since the arrival of the blue haired guest it had been raining non stop, the weather had cleared at least a little bit for them to be comfortable outside and for example for the royal gardener Gonta Gokuhara to be able to continue working with his flowers and his bugs. Now rumbling of the start of thunder was sounding through the walls of the castle and spooked some of the rich citizens that had only come here to have a party, and gripped onto their glasses of wine or their partners a little tighter. The sudden change in weather which almost gave away that this wasn’t going to turn out to favorable for the aspiring detective or those in the castle caused a bit of unrest and a sense of agitation to set in the crowd of people, the whispering among couples and friends getting a little louder.   
  
Shuichi used this moment to carefully push through the crowd without having too many people mind the fact that it was the servant that was moving through the place. Keeping his head down and trying to ignore the whispers of those around him, he made his way over to were Kokichi was still standing. The purplenette had his eyes on the sight in front of them, no longer on Shuichi, and it was both a bit reassuring as well as nerve wracking for him to have to walk up to the prince. He had seen the journal before. He knew what kind of information it held. He knew he was screwed, basically. And there wasn’t anything he could do about it. Although, Shuichi may have had a plan to change that fact a bit. Possibly to change their future. He hoped he could. 

The blue haired woman placed her hand on the shoulder of Chihiro, her fingers that sported the red nails like claws softly wrapping around it as she gave the king a kind smile. ‘I must confess, your majesty, that I have been quite suspicious of your servant Saihara right from the start that I came here. Call it… intuition from a plain woman that has traveled far and seen much’, she explained, her voice awfully cheerful. It was entrancing, but to Shuichi it just sounded like nails scratching on a blackboard or a knife scraping onto the service of porcelain or glass. Still, the heads of the royal family and rulers over the kingdom seemed not to mind or notice this fact, as they let her speak. ‘So I told Fujisaki that perhaps it would be a good idea to check his dorm a little more thoroughly, you see? And I am sure that mister Fujisaki’s findings won’t disappoint, so would you let him speak?’, the woman continued sickeningly sweet, clasping her hands together and leaning with her side into the brunette who didn’t look like he minded her company per se. 

With a bit of haste Shuichi stepped forward where he was standing and gripped onto Kokichi’s arm. The male seemed a little startled as his gaze snapped to Shuichi, and softened when he saw his expression. Although Shuichi knew exactly what he needed and wanted to say, he stayed silent for a moment as the whispering around them only continued and the tension didn’t leave the room. He wanted to apologize. He wanted to tell Kokichi everything. He wanted to hold him and help him to leave right then and there so they didn’t have to deal with this. He wanted to yell at the world for working like this, and perhaps he even wanted to cry at the unfairness. Still, he kept quiet as his bottom lip trembled a little, his gaze fixed on Kokichi in front of him. The purple haired prince reached out a hand to him, gripping softly onto his forearm as well, as he squeezed softly which was meant in a reassuring way. It only made Saihara feel more guilty. The eye contact he had with the purple haired trickster apologized for everything in a way that words probably wouldn’t have been able to, and it was almost as if the prince was trying to tell him that it was alright. That he didn’t hold it against him. But that may have been his imagination getting his hopes up. Still, one could hope for the best of course. 

‘Well then, I suppose listening to what he has to say can’t be too bad. Since it was so important for you to disrupt our feast’, the King grumbled a bit, and Lady Ouma nudged him in the side for his dismissive tone. Shirogane had this comforting smile on her face as she looked towards the smaller servant, pushing him to continue his story, which he willingly did. 

‘Saihara has been keeping tabs on certain things he seemed to find interesting. One of those subjects was the prince, Kokichi Ouma. There are some interesting findings described in here, which will prove our worst suspicions of the royal son’, Chihiro spoke, reaching out and handing the notebook over to the king, before balling his fists to his sides in frustration. ‘I didn’t want to believe it myself at first, but I think this proofs enough’. 

Hearing those words triggered Shuichi’s thoughts to remind him of what he had walked up to prince Ouma for if he could’ve just kept him waiting on the other side of the room. Without words, the bluenette tugged onto the sleeve of his shirt a bit, while stepping back. Kokichi tilted his head with an unreadable expression as if he questioned what Shuichi was trying to tell him, and the servant suppressed a frustrated groan as he continued tugging on the fabric. The prince blinked, and suddenly realisation hit him that the servant wanted him to follow him. Although a small frown was on his face, he did step forward carefully. Now was the moment for them not to be spotted by everyone else, or at least not to be held back. The way to the door of the room wasn’t that crowded, so Saihara was sure they could make it. As soon as they were out of that door, they could make a run for it, he figured. 

‘Regarding my son?’, the queen asked with a shock in her voice that they could even hear although they didn’t face them at the moment. The voice of his mother made Kokichi stop in his tracks for a moment, almost managing to cause Shuichi to stumble. With a sharp demanding look back, they continued their journey to the door. ‘Yes. It says it right here, what we all feared and in the back of our minds all knew… Kokichi Ouma is a witch’, Chihiro spat out, his one hand clutching onto his chest as if his heart was hurting and the other pointing into the journal that the king had been reading with a problematic expression on his face. 

As soon as the words had left the servant’s lips, everyone in the room froze. There was nothing worse than being accused of being a witch, after all. Even the simple suspicion could cause a person’s life. It was a way to plant the seed of fear into any person that was willing to listen, watering it gradually a little more every moment spent on explanation so one would believe in the accusation more and more, until the plant bloomed and actions would have to be separated from the person, since their personality would be completely disregarded for the fear that filled their empty hulses of a body. 

‘This can’t be..’, lady Ouma said as she shook her head, her face glowing a bit as she looked horrified by the news. Sure, everyone could have expected it, but they had chosen to ignore it for as long as they could keep him safe. Now it was all over. ‘Saihara has described the different occasions on which Kokichi used his powers, and even a curse that runs through his veins and has affected his blood. Reading this, you shouldn’t think of him as the heir to the throne or your son anymore. Prince Ouma is a witch, a destruction thirsty and evil witch!’, Fujisaki called out, his voice echoing through the room harshly. He didn’t raise his voice often, and in a way it still sounded soft coming from the small man, but a determination had filled it. 

Shuichi kept his grip onto the purple haired boy’s arm. He ignored the words and instead focussed on getting to the door with the prince behind him. Shuichi had left it opened when he had rushed behind the brunette to try and catch him before he could spill the beans, but that was basically history now. Things had escalated far too soon and far too fast to his liking. He could only guess how pushed into a corner the prince was feeling right now; his normally sweet lavender scent had fainted gravely and only smelled sour. 

‘This can’t be, no’, lady Ouma repeated as she took a hesitant step forward towards her husband, reading over his shoulder. The whole crowd of people was tense and looking at each other, barely blinking as though otherwise they would be able to miss something important. ‘I won’t believe it, I  _ can’t believe it _ ’, she continued, speaking up. ‘This is my son we’re talking about. Of course, he has had his own things that we had to deal with, but you wouldn’t call him a witch now, would you?’. The woman was almost begging for those of the village to understand her thought process, but no one was responding to her. The king even held his hand towards her lips in a way to tell her to shut up and let the others talk. 

Again, Kokichi stopped walking as he heard his mother speak and something tugged at his heart for the woman. She was his favorite of all of them, he knew this and he was pretty sure she knew this as well. With how things were looking, Saihara was planning on getting out of here, and he wouldn’t be able to see her again. But the lord knew what kind of consequences he would get to follow if he didn’t get out of here right now, so in the end it was all or nothing, he supposed. ‘Come on, almost there’, Shuichi whisper yelled towards him as he looked over his shoulder at the male, his careful look making something soften inside of the prince. He was pretty sure that the bluenette actually cared, instead of just about his status and having to work things out. The only other person he would consider an actual friend here was Rantaro, and well… he was probably still passed out at the nurse’s office at the moment. Shaking his head to rid himself of his intrusive thoughts, Ouma continued following Shuichi. He was right, they were so close to the door right now, it would be a shame if they gave up right there. 

And yet, when they almost reached the door, it was harshly closed by the pail hands dolled up with sharp red nails that made Kokichi hiss under his breath. When no one was paying too much attention to her, Tsumugi had sneaked to the back of the room. The bitch had probably noticed Shuichi’s and Kokichi’s attempt to leave right from the beginning. 

The sound filled the room, and all gazes were snapped back towards the door, where Shirogane was standing with a smug glint in her eyes, although she kept herself composed. ‘Well then, if you won’t simply believe it, how about we provide some plain proof from the witch himself that just tried to escape the conversation?’, the blue haired woman asked out loud, startling both of the males to step back. And yet, Shuichi could feel that he lost his grip onto the prince as he was grabbed at the arms by some strangely buff looking males that belonged in the village, and he shrieked strangely enough being separated from the servant. He glanced towards the door, signing for him to just go for it, but he couldn’t. Women from the village were blocking it now, and there was nowhere to run. 

Kokichi was pulled by his arms to the front of the room, where tsumugi slowly followed. His wrist was gripped and he looked away from her, practically fuming right now from how pissed off he was at this behavior, and although Shuichi drowned the noise out to focus on other things he could faintly hear that the purple haired trickster was complaining about being a prince and that he shouldn’t be treated like this. The blue haired woman picked his fingers apart slowly to be able to see his hand, and saw a faint scar littered over there from the time that she had just arrived and Pekoyama had accidentally cut the prince when he wasn’t paying enough attention. She smirked a bit to herself, but once again faked a look of innocence towards the king that was looking down at her, his eyes dark as he kept them on the prince. ‘I’ll give you the honor’, the woman smiled softly, taking a knife from the table in the room that had been used to cut cake, and cleaning it on a napkin. 

The king realised what was going to happen. They were going to check out if what Shuichi had written down about cursed blood was correct, since then they could be pretty sure that all of it was, and it would definitely proof that Ouma was a witch and therefore a threat to the kingdom. The male eyed him helplessly, tugging his arms forward but being unable to get out of the grasp of two grown men. ‘Dad..’, he tried, his eyes still a little wide and glossing over a bit, a true emotion he didn’t show his parents often. Still, the old man casted his gaze down, and grumbled. ‘Kirumi, come up here’. 

The excited look on Shirogane’s face should have troubled everyone in the room, but it went unnoticed. She basically skipped to the place where Ouma was being held, and held out the knife for the silver haired woman that had been ordered by the king to take it. Said woman was standing near the other exit in the room that was closed to a spare kitchen, since she had been in charge of what plates of food entered and exited the room, and suddenly all attention was on her. She could see the glimpsing of the silver knife that had been one of her favorites from the whole set of silverware underneath the chandelier, in the hands of those that wanted to use it for the wrong purpose. Kitchen knives were made for cooking, and for nothing more. This particular one was splendid to cut cake and other somewhat softer surfaces with, like cooked potato and pies that she sometimes made for the family. Never before had she even accidentally cut her own skin with it, since she had so far only been ordered to cook, and skin isn’t on the list of meals as far as she was aware. But now, things seemed to be different. The task she had just gotten even if it wasn’t yet explained to her, was a cruel one. A horrible one. An impossible one. 

She bowed down a bit as the king looked at her, keeping her gaze down in embarrassment as her face stayed emotionless like she usually kept it. ‘My apologies, my lord’, she said, loud enough for the king to hear her, as she held her hands behind her back, ‘but I am afraid that I cannot fulfill this order’. Although most around her wouldn’t be able to see this, her lips pressed together tightly after she said this. Never before had she denied an order, but now that she thought about it, an earlier order of hers had been not to hurt Kokichi; after all, during the brushing of his hair the boy could get quite whiny and easily pained. So technically, what she was doing wasn’t wrong, she told herself. Even if it was simply for the fact that she didn’t wish to bring harm to the prince. 

‘Pardon? I said, come up here’, Lord Ouma spoke again, frowning as his eyes turned darker. Kokichi himself had fallen silent, and only looked at Shuichi from here out in the room, who gave him the same desperate look back that was being send to him. Still, he could notice that Tojo eyed him as well for a moment, knowing that she was making the right decision in the back of her mind. ‘I apologize, I can not’, Kirumi repeated, again bowing down a bit as she still didn’t dare to meet his gaze, since she was sure she couldn’t take the distaste that was in them. The king growled softly, and gestured to her wildly. ‘Then get out of here, if you’re gonna be good for nothing! You’re dismissed’, he huffed out, his voice sharp and hurtful, and with a pained look on her face, the woman gave a small nod, before exiting the room. 

Again, the hope that Ouma and Saihara felt when the order was being ignored was short lived, when instead Shirogane stepped forward more. ‘Well then, I don’t need a servant to do the small task anyway’, she said out loud, being in lead of what was going on now. Chihiro had walked to the side after his part in this was done, glad that he could help uncover something like this. 

The knife was lifted in the air, being held loosely in the hand of Tsumugi, that seemed not to even pay mind to it as her other hand gripped onto the fingers of the purple haired male. She looked down at him, into his eyes, with a small smirk that was solely visible to him. ‘You’ll pay for this’, Kokichi hissed to her, his glare sharp and he hoped that it would sting, although it seemed like the blue haired didn’t care in the slightest. ‘Tsk, tsk’, she muttered back to him, making sure to press those red nails into the skin a little and making the purplenette gasp quietly in pain as his frown deepened. ‘Those are some big words for someone in your position, doll’, the woman whispered to her, her eyes twinkling in amusement as the guy’s face twisted in anger. And Kokichi was sure, that at the moment she reached forward and the silver sliced his skin, her eyes were coloring a soft grey instead of the blue they had been before. 

Droplets of crimson dribbled down his hand, and for a moment, nothing happened. Everyone was holding their breaths as Tsumugi stepped back, and told them to simply watch what was happening. The sticky blood slid down the male’s bared arm, leaving a trail behind to show where it had traveled to, before it slowly started to let go of his skin, and dripped onto the expensive rug that was on the floor instead. And that was when it happened. As soon as the first people noticed it, gasps left the crowd as they stepped back, feeling the slowly glowing warmth coming from where the blood had fallen onto the rug. And slowly but surely, orange, elegant flames were emitting from the fabric, biting into the boy’s clothes and frightening even the king to step back. Even Shuichi, that knew in theory that this could possibly happen, was shocked at the sight. 

Before it could escalate too far, Tsumugi brought a glass of water which she used to extinguish the small fire that had been created. ‘This is all the proof you need. And since Saihara kept it a secret for so long, we can only assume that he is an accomplice. So what do you say, your majesty?’, the woman asked with a soft smile, voice again sickeningly sweet and almost sounding like she was singing, almost. It wouldn’t have surprised Saihara if she did, to be honest. It seemed like she was enjoying this. That Kokichi wasn’t getting out of this was bad enough of itself, but she also added Shuichi to the sentence, and he could feel his chest tighten with the rising panic. Definitely when the king spoke those words. 

‘Bring them to burn at the stake’. 

He wanted to help Ouma, he really did, but he couldn’t. So he did what Kokichi yelled out quickly for him to do. ‘Run!’. Listening to the prince’s advice wasn’t something he usually did without a second thought, but now he simply pushed through the crowd behind him that was blocking the door and he tried to reach the handle with his hand. If he escaped, he could come back for Ouma and take him away from them, bring him to safety. He could bring him wherever, maybe if they had enough energy for a long travel that would definitely take longer than a day he could even get him back to his hometown. He’d rather live there and be hated than having to leave Kokichi behind here to die. This fueled him to grip onto the handle, and forcefully he pulled the door open, which pushed the ladies to the side that tried to swarm around him so he couldn’t escape. 

He had almost made it as well, if it weren’t for Tsumugi again seeing what he was up to, and calmly making her way across the room as Shuichi was still being held back by the hands of many citizens that tried to help their kingdom, or at least that is what they thought they were doing. And like she had done to rantaro with a book, she had now grabbed an empty plate, and raised it above her head, before swinging it down. With a loud thud she hit the bluenette’s back of his head. The last thing Shuichi heard before passing out was an angry grunt from Kokichi that saw what happened. 


	14. Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘We have suffered for long enough! It is time for our troubles to end, and to burn the witch! My- What’s so funny?’, the girl snapped, turning her head towards Ouma, that shook his head as he giggled, biting his lip as he seemed to try and calm down his breathing. ‘N-no no, please co-continue’, he snickered, a wide smile on his face, although Shuichi could see it didn’t quite reach his face. He was playing, faking this. But why?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Sorry if this sucks a bit I'm very sleepy rn-
> 
> warnings: burning, like elaborate gore basically, and the usual

_ A cold breeze reminding him that autumn had once again taken over the country and therefore also the town ripped through the male’s skin. He found his hands reaching for the floor on which he was sitting, and being met with the soft strands of grass. Of course, grass, he could smell the soft scent of them now, if he leaned down a bit and didn’t pay mind to anything else around him. That was what he came here for, after all, right? Yes, he remembered now, he came to this field quite a lot. It was conveniently close to his home, yet far away enough for him not to have to be confronted with actual reality for now. It wasn’t as if he was all that busy now. His parents weren’t home, which for some reason made him feel a little empty inside, although he wasn’t sure what that was for yet. His uncle didn’t get a lot of cases anymore since most were ashamed to need the work of that detective. His uncle would’ve paid him a visit, he now realised, if it weren’t for the fact that he was traveling the country in search of a more accepting village to live.  _

_ Shuichi was in a hazy state of mind, his eyes fluttering shut softly only for him to feel like the second he blinked he had skipped a whole period doing nothing more than sitting in the comfortable field. It didn’t matter though. He felt at ease and yet strangely lonely with his fingers curling around the different shades of green. So now and then he would be able to hear a bird or a small animal nearby, but they never dared to come close enough for him to view them. That wasn’t a problem. Saihara supposed that they needed their alone time away from the cruel human beings that didn’t really appreciate them just as much as the aspiring detective himself did.  _

_ He wasn’t alone anymore. A presence, yet to be identified neared him, this he knew for sure, although he wasn’t sure how he knew this. His hands found themselves resting in his lap now as he raised his head. Even though the knowledge of someone approaching had already reached the bluenette, he still reacted a little startled at the sight of the white haired boy nearing the place. Of course it was Kiibo. Kiibo was the other person to know of this spot, since he had introduced him to it ever since Saihara had complained about having much stress and feeling the pressure from everyone around him drown him alive. Small twigs were snapped and the breeze was audible through the leaves of the trees that fluttered down from the branches they were once connected to, to eventually end up as fungus food.  _

_ ‘Hey, Shuichi!’, Kiibo greeted him enthusiastically, well, as enthusiastic as the white haired male could get, anyway. He meant well of course, even though he sometimes indeed felt like a robot by how monotonous his emotions could be transmitted. With no reason, the bluenette smiled at him a little as he waved him over as well. Usually he would’ve found it unfortunate that his privacy in the field would have to be shared now with another human, but today was different. How it was different, he wasn’t sure yet, but he was sure he would find out.  _

_ Kiibo didn’t hesitate to take a seat next to him in the grass, possibly staining his pants, but he didn’t seem to mind all too much. If it was necessary, his girlfriend Miu could invent him some new ones, he would’ve said. Shuichi was fairly sure that he had said that before at least once or twice. ‘Well, happy birthday, Shuichi’, the white haired male said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes, and and outstretched hand towards the other. Saihara took the hand and shook it with a small ‘thank you’. That was right. It was his birthday today. His parents had gifted him nothing but a paper saying happy birthday and explaining their absence for the day. Not that it mattered, anyhow. If they didn’t care enough to bring him an actual present, he didn’t mind not getting anything from them.  _

_ Now Kiibo looked a little bashful as he scratched his arm, tilting his head a bit. It reminded Shuichi of someone, a name he couldn’t recall in this state of mind. ‘Well, you know how I said I would get you something? I did! I just… hope you’ll like it’, the white haired male muttered as he retrieved a small envelope from his pocket. It was obvious that something was in there, probably needing the envelope to be kept safe. It didn’t matter what Kiibo got him. It mattered that he cared enough to go out of his way to get Shuichi something. So he smiled, taking the envelope with a genuine gratitude.  _

_ As he opened the package it was in, he retrieved from the small pocket a… curious looking necklace. It was of a silver color, and the shape of the charm that hung from the necklace was rather peculiar. It was almost as a circle with a cross, although it wasn’t exactly a cross, since the outer pieces didn’t fit together. Shuichi wasn’t one to wear a lot of jewelry; he only owned one ring which is something that had been gifted to him by his uncle, and that was about it. Yet the necklace did make a strange feeling rise in his chest. He found it interesting, at the very least. He wasn’t sure what it was supposed to represent, and he knew that he had no set of clothing that it would fit, and yet he felt strangely drawn to the necklace.   
_ _   
_ _ ‘I got it from the market last week’, Kiibo told him, folding his hands together as he watched how Saihara was inspecting the work. ‘They had the usual stands, it’s sad that you never want to come with me. But yeah, it’s always the same. However, this time there was one new one, with a person I didn’t recognize from the village. I would’ve remembered someone with completely pink hair and teeth sharper than I’d ever seen them before, for sure’, Kiibo laughed softly, sitting back and enjoying the sun that decided to show some of her light as well now, now that clouds had moved out of the way. ‘He sold a bunch of stuff that Miu would have probably liked, but I saw the necklace laying there, and it immediately made me think of you… I’m not sure how to explain. I felt like I had to give it to you, like it was meant for you. Do you know that feeling?’.  _

_ ‘I don’t’, Saihara muttered in response. The metal or at least material of which the necklace was made shimmered a bit underneath the sunlight. It was a pretty sight. I don’t, but I am going to eventually, he thought. It was an odd thought, that didn’t belong here, he knew that. It felt like he himself didn’t belong here, not in this moment. At least not anymore. ‘Well, I haven’t seen that man anymore when I came back later. A pity, because Miu really would have loved those materials’, Kiibo muttered, mostly to himself as he hugged his own arms, and faced the male next to him.  _

_ ‘So, what are you planning to do for your birthday?’, the white haired male asked him suddenly. It sounded wrong. It sounded warped, in a way. Maybe he shouldn’t have said anything. Shuichi wanted to take the necklace and go home. But he couldn’t; he was stuck where he was sitting. ‘Well, not much. I suppose I could make myself some tea today’, Saihara responded. It sounded unnatural. He shouldn’t have said anything; he needed to get up, and he needed to leave. The conversation had already ended, and this going on wasn’t right. Why it wasn’t right, there was no way for him to know.  _

_ ‘Oh? Well, I don’t think you will be able to’, Kiibo told him. His voice was deep, deeper than usual, and Saihara didn’t recognize it. Or he didn’t want to recognize it. It was as if he was talking to… to himself, but a warped version. This felt unsafe. ‘Huh? What’s that supposed to mean?’, Shuichi questioned the words, and he was right to do so. Kiibo usually didn’t make cryptic comments like these, so he had the right to have his doubts. ‘Well, because you will burn for your sins, of course!’, the white haired male responded as if it was the most logical thing he had ever said.  _

_ It wasn’t. And yet it was. ‘B-burn?’, Shuichi asked, his breathing speeding up and getting uneven as he moved to sit back. The atmosphere had changed. It was just him, the grass and the distant voice of Kiibo. All else was a mess of matter that he couldn’t comprehend and couldn’t see. ‘Just remember not to stay in your room all day today, alright?’, the voice of his friend sounded with a real concern in it. That was right, this was what he had said. And Shuichi had responded. No promises, he had said, but his throat was closed shut, and no noise would leave his lips except for a quiet choking noise as the scent of ashes filled his nostrils.   
_ _   
_ Shuichi woke up from his slumber with a small shock at the unnatural ending, trying to understand the situation he actually found himself in. That had been a memory, the memory of the day he had gotten the necklace he still carried with him from his friend. His mind probably altered the dream during his sleep however with the worries that had been in his subconsciousness. Speaking about those worries, a strange feeling entered his body as he realised he could still feel the breeze ripping through his skin as if he was in that field again, although this time it felt less friendly and more intruding. His neck was hurting and so were his limbs, although he couldn’t fully process yet why. 

As his eyes finally managed to open, his lashes felt like they were sticking together a little bit. That was perhaps because of the consistent drops of rain falling onto him, and so on his face as well. But rain meant he was outside, and he didn’t remember going outside at all- all he remembered was being in the loud ballroom with people eyeing him, the same look in their eyes he was used to get from the people in his hometown, although filled with more fear. It was perhaps even worse than what he was used to. His heart felt like it stopped beating with a shock as he realised the last thing he remembered, was being knocked out when he tried and failed to exit the room. 

The sound around him started to dawn on him, and with a little more energy he looked up… to see a crowd of people looking back at him. Faces he vaguely recognized from the ball but also some he remembered seeing at the street market; the crowd was much bigger this time than would’ve fit in that one room in the castle. Eyeing to his right, he noticed a dot of blonde hair, and the face of Kaede Akamatsu, the woman that he had met and remembered being Ouma’s friend between the others as well, although her expression was somewhat different from those around her. 

He wanted to open his mouth and ask what was going on, when he caught sight of the blue haired woman standing in front of the crowd. The last person he wanted to speak to today was that woman. So he tried to step forward and away from her, hoping he could run away from his problems. He couldn’t however. Head glancing over his shoulder, he noticed the large stake he was bound to, rope around his wrists that went behind it, and as he moved them, he realised the knot it was bound with he couldn’t reach with his own fingers. That did explain the pain in his limbs and his neck; if he had been in this position a rather long time, that definitely wasn’t all too good for his body.   
  
Now Saihara was a little more worried about his situation and started to frantically take in the sights around him, hoping that with the tricks he had learned from his uncle -always assess the situation and surroundings, after all- he could somehow find himself a way out of this. First of all, the crowd. That wasn’t a great sign. Something public, something big was going on. He had a lot of witnesses, so he wouldn’t be able to pull a smart trick. They were in half a circle in front of them, after all, and almost all eyes were now set on him. Not all though; some were looking to his left although that meant their right, as if something interesting was going on there as well, and Shuichi found it rather curious. So he himself also gazed to the left, wanting to see what was so interesting there. 

As soon as he did this though, the feeling of despair he was getting a bit more familiar with settled in his stomach again, and his eyes widened a bit. There stood Kokichi Ouma, the purple haired prince that he had tried to escape with earlier and failed, the man that because of his want to write everything down in his notebook was now in the situation they found themselves in, and he was looking right back at the bluenette. His eyes weren’t wide like Saihara’s had been, they were a bit soft. More calculated. More calm. He seemed to have seen through their little struggle a while ago already, and that look could mean two things. One, which Saihara hoped, was that he found a way out and was therefore no longer worried. The second one, which Saihara expected, was that Kokichi had long ago realised there wasn’t a way out this time, and that with giving up trying, he had found a strange sense of calmth. That did sound like him, in a way. 

Kokichi was bound to a big stake as well, hands behind his back like Shuichi’s were and almost painfully red near the rope, as it was obviously pulled way too tight around his skin, but the aspiring detective wasn’t sure for how long that would be important anymore. After all, he was standing on top of a pile of wood and hay, that also supported the stake in it, and Shuichi realised that the same could have been said of him. Now he noticed as well the torch that the blue haired woman was holding as he glanced over the different villagers that were standing around there like they were some sort of tourist attraction. Multiple villagers were holding pitchforks and torches themselves, which was almost comical as it reminded Shuichi of books he had read about vampires being chased away like that. Surely he, Shuichi Saihara, a servant to the castle and a good for nothing like his parents always liked to remind him, didn’t need this much of an audience. 

Shifting his feet since he was pretty uncomfortable as he heard Shirogane try to shush the crowd a bit, he felt something near his left foot, and strained his neck a bit to look down at it. The bag that he definitely recognized was looking back at him, put next to the stake as well onto the pile of wood and hay that he was standing on. It seemed like it was full alright, and it made him hiss quietly. Of course Tsumugi would do something like that. If she was going to burn the both of them, she was going to make sure that the evidence, Saihara’s notebook, would be burned with it. After all, it also described the good side of Kokichi, and if people were to think he was right after his death, that could turn out pretty badly for the blue haired woman. Now he understood where the name manipulator was from. He wouldn’t be surprised if the bag had simply been a cover for her to freely burn his journal. 

Looking back a little further over his shoulder, straining his neck a bit to do so again, he could see the hint of a forest. Different trees and bushes were behind them, from a small distance to the stake, obviously keeping a bit of distance so that the small forest wouldn’t immediately get burned whenever an alleged witch would. Behind that were the mountains, Shuichi knew, since he had seen them once or twice from the castle windows. There was a path leading up to them not that far from here, but he wouldn’t be able to reach it, so it was again another escape route that he couldn’t use. 

Slowly but surely the crowd of villagers was calming down and their noise turned to soft whispering to each other at times. Tsumugi held her torch up higher as she stepped forward. ‘People of Lavender Town!’, she started loudly, ignoring the quiet snicker that Kokichi let out at this. Shuichi glanced at him, trying to figure out why he laughed, but the male was simply looking straight at the blue haired female. He himself decided to keep quiet. ‘For seventeen years, this creature has been locked up safely inside of the castle. For seventeen years, this parasite has lived off of your food, off of your work, off of your money, and what would you get in return?’. The blue haired woman only raised her voice higher as Ouma didn’t cease the laughs at certain parts of her story. Saihara frowned a bit, staring at his shoes as he wasn’t sure if he even wanted to know what was going on in Kokichi’s head at the moment. 

‘Nothing, but a destruction soon to come! You remember the tales of the witches outside of this kingdom, don’t you? Junko Enoshima, the witch that lives right outside of these gates, she herself  _ invented  _ the prince! And we have tolerated this behavior for so many years, we have condoned of this… bastard child far longer than we should have, but no more!’, Tsumugi chanted, waving the large torch she was holding. The small droplets of rain didn’t put it out, and neither did it put down her strangely inappropriate smile that nobody seemed to notice, but Shuichi did. Kokichi snorted at the sentence as he let his head fall back against the stake he was tied to, wiggling his arms and creating an annoying noise in this way. For a moment Shuichi could see the blue haired woman’s annoyance at his behaviour, and the ends of her hair started to turn a bit pink. 

‘We have suffered for long enough! It is time for our troubles to end, and to burn the witch! My- What’s so funny?’, the girl snapped, turning her head towards Ouma, that shook his head as he giggled, biting his lip as he seemed to try and calm down his breathing. ‘N-no no, please co-continue’, he snickered, a wide smile on his face, although Shuichi could see it didn’t quite reach his face. He was playing, faking this. But why?   
  
‘Oh no, I’m sure that everyone is quite curious as to why you are having so much fun in your final moments’, Tsumugi said with again a sugar coated voice that was very inappropriate to the moment. Several people in the crowd seemed to be a bit uncomfortable. Kokichi just plastered a wicked grin on his face, tilting his head as he looked down at the woman. ‘Hm. Well, I just think you’re kind of funny, is all. You’re a funny girl, has anyone ever told you that?’, he asked, his tone a little flirty, and the disgust that washed over the woman’s face was maybe just the littlest bit funny- as Kokichi burst of laughter, Shuichi couldn’t help to let out the tiniest snicker of a laugh, shaking his head. It was comical, ironic, that Saihara, the dullest person to ever exist, was going to die at the hands of a bad witch together with a good witch being cruelly burned at the stake of all things. Fate definitely managed to screw his thought process up, that’s true. It wasn’t preparing him. It was tricking him, with all the little pushes into the wrong direction, and it reminded him of the purple haired prince himself. 

As Tsumugi breathed through her nose a little more angrily, Shuichi noticed more of her hair turning pink, and her eyes turned a bit of another color, as well as her face shape was slowly turning differently. ‘That’s a lie! I actually think you are really fucking boring, and I’m losing interest in all this burning at the stake bullshit. At least make it worth my while’, Ouma complained as he finally stopped laughing, faking a yawn and again letting his head fall back. Shirogane balled her hands at her sides, staring at the male. It seemed as though even her clothes were changing, and suddenly Shuichi realised what Kokichi was trying to do- perhaps the blue haired woman wasn’t as good at handling emotions as she tried to seem. He knew that she could shift into the very witch that everyone in the crowd feared, and if this would happen, perhaps there would be enough chaos for them both to survive. Ouma definitely was more calculated than he tried to seem. 

However, as Saihara realised this, so did Shirogane; everything changed back to normal in a single flash, and she gave him a patient smile. ‘Oh well. I suppose you should be able to have fun right before your death’, she chirped, turning her back to the both of them as she faced the crowd again. Kokichi’s smile dropped and so did his head as he realised that his plan hadn’t worked, expression blank. 

‘Burning witches has been a tradition for centuries, and it has proven to be very effective!’, Tsumugi continued her little speech towards the others. The rainfall worsened a bit, but not that much for it to be able to put out any of the fired torches that people were holding. ‘After all, when you burn someone, their soul gets burned with it, and they won’t be able to return or posess to another human. The danger will be exterminated, and we get what we have waited on for this long. We get peace in the kingdom, we get protection! We will have finished this off on our own accounts and we will have freedom, free of the parasite that has been living inside of the royal house for far too long. This has been our right, and we shall take it! We shall avenge our friends and our relatives that have had to die due to other witches, and the ones that were to die had we not taken our actions today’, Tsumugi cheered, hearing the crowd make noises of affirmation. 

Kokichi again ruined the moment with a loud huff. ‘This is lovely and all, very motivational speech, but can we just get to the point where you burn me and I die dramatically and people realise that  _ you _ were actually the bad guy and feel really shitty about themselves? ‘Cause this is really boring’, he blew a raspberry at the woman. Tsumugi just shook her head with a tired sigh. ‘Oh oh, don’t think you can lie your way out of this like plain every situation you find yourself in’, she started. ‘But however, you are right! I have been going on for long enough now, and it’s time to get on with the program, don’t you think so too, Shuichi?’, she asked, glancing at him with an innocent smile. Shuichi’s eyes were just a little wide as the realisation of what was going to happen settled in, and he only felt a panic that made him unable to answer. 

Tsumugi spread her arms as if they were wings, turning back to the crowd. ‘See here, Shuichi Saihara, everybody! Convicted for being on the witch’s side, decided to not tell anyone about his findings and with that bringing the whole castle in danger for a little fantasy he had, endangering everyone in the kingdom when making his moves sly as a little fox, but now that he is set in the spotlight and everyone can see him for the person he really is, he is too afraid to answer!’, she sneered. The quiet laughing and angry noises coming from the crowd of people made Shuichi’s head spin, and not in a good way. He glanced at Kokichi, but the male was only gritting his teeth at this; she was just expanding the time of their suffering, and he knew this. 

‘Well, I have decided’, the blue haired manipulator spoke up again after managing to calm the crowd down. Shuichi could see Kaede pull a hood over her head, still holding onto a torch and keeping it under the hood a little so that the rain wouldn’t fall on it. Solely for the fact that she had seemed so nice did Saihara feel horrible about the fact that she would want to be here, not to offer support but to be a part of the crowd that wanted the both of them dead. It didn’t make sense. After all, she seemed to be good friends with Kokichi, which meant that she should’ve known at least a bit about him being not completely human; she didn’t look like too dense of a person not to understand. Yet here she was. And here everyone else in the village was. 

‘We will burn Shuichi Saihara first, for he is the one that would have sacrificed everyone around him for his personal gain, and then we continue on to the parasite!’, Tsumugi continued, stepping forward. Now both of the boys that were bound to their place were a little startled; after all, it was insanely cruel of her to go in a specific order. Still, Shuichi let his eyes close tightly as his body shook a bit, knowing full well that there was nothing he could do about this. At least he would be the first to die; after all, he was simply a servant. If Kokichi managed to escape in the meantime, that would mean he would maybe be able to save this kingdom from the actual threat. 

He could hear Shirogane’s footsteps as she easily stepped onto the pile of wood and hay stacked together neatly, and he felt a warm sensation near his face, but he refused to open his eyes. The sound of Kokichi saying something did reach his ears but he couldn’t make sense of it as his heart beat loudly in his chest, loud enough to draw even the noise of all the villagers that came simply to see this happen like they were watching a simple playlet. The moment that the torch dropped onto the pile that he was standing on, and Tsumugi stepped off of it, standing back and watching, is when he bit his lip harshly so he wouldn’t make a terrified noise. Terrified he definitely was. And still, his eyes remained closed tightly. 

Shuichi felt a breeze rip tightly through his skin as his clothes stuck to his body from the rain drops dropping down onto him. The air felt tighter, more tense, but that may have been the smoke reaching his face. It started to get hotter near his feet, and his breathing became irregular, knowing and yet not able to know what was going to come out of this. ‘Stop this!’, he heard Kokichi yell, his voice strangely true to his words, as the sound of his stake moving where it was in the ground notified Shuichi that he was struggling to get out of his bounds, but was unable to. The bluenette himself was pressed tightly to the stake as if he wouldn’t want to be anywhere else at the moment, since the heat was getting closer and closer and there was only so far he could place his feet backwards. 

Kokichi’s eyes were glued on the servant, seeing his distressed face and feeling his own breathing speed up, although it wasn’t exactly from fear. Shuichi, the sweet and shy and embarrassment of a Shuichi, never hurt a fly and put up with his bullshit whenever simply because he thought that was what he was supposed to do, Shuichi that started to figure out his lies and was so wonderfully stubborn when he wanted to be although he was open to suggestions, Shuichi that didn’t know what he was doing but still managed to do exactly as was expected of him, Shuichi that had those deep and intelligent eyes which he tried not to gaze into for too long since he knew it made the bluenette uncomfortable. Shuichi with the silly dreams of becoming a detective and with the cute smile and the insanely endearing giggle that Kokichi hadn’t heard enough of in the time he spend at the castle, he was going to die. He had simply done what felt right, he had used his logic, and now he was going to die for it. And if he thought about it, it could all be Ouma’s fault, but he rather didn’t think of that. 

No, he’d rather blame Tsumugi. The bitch of a witch that was enjoying this, and whatever else she had planned next. She was doing this to torture him, he was sure of it. And it didn’t make him sad, no, it made him mad. ‘Shirogane, stop this, you know what I can do to you’, the purple haired prince hissed, his eyes dark, but Tsumugi just huffed. ‘Empty threats! You’re tied up, and your little boyfriend is dying, there is nothing you can do to me’, she exclaimed proudly, her arms folding over her chest as she stood, and hummed happily as the flames started to reach higher in the pile of the blue haired servant. Great spikes of orange reached up, nibbling onto the underside of the aspiring detective’s feet, and he definitely started to realise what this was going to be like. 

A biting, edging pain started to course through Shuichi’s body as the heat slowly started to turn up in his skin near his feet. It was the same feeling as he accidentally touched the stove and would reach his hands back, but now he couldn’t reach back. It was eating at him, an immense pain making him cry out as he tried to escape from it, but he couldn’t. There was nothing he could do except for feeling his skin get ruined inside of simple shoes that definitely weren’t heat resistant, his skin turning harsh, red and painful, big blisters already forming above his feet where the tops of flames were teasing him. 

At his cry, Ouma yelled out angrily, launching forward, but not freeing himself. Thunder started to rumble from the sky, as the clouds turned darker, and thick raindrops crashed down as angrily as that the witch was feeling. Shuichi was letting out pained whines of ‘make it stop, make it stop’, which made tears well up in the usually emotionally steady purplenette, and he bawled his fists as he yelled at the blue haired woman, the worst profanities he could think of, electricity from the sky zapping down in a bolt of lightning in the fields near the castle. The crowd gasped and stepped back, definitely scared of the witches influence. And yet, he wasn’t done. 

It rained harder, and a storm that managed to break twigs from the trees behind him and made hairs of the women wave harshly in front of their faces as some of the torches were quenched. Looking to his right at Shuichi, he noticed how the fire that was burning in his pile was slowly extinguishing with the harsh weather as it had been placed directly onto the pile and therefore wasn’t really protected against the rain. His loud cries had stopped but he was crying, tears of pain, Kokichi supposed, and it didn’t calm his anger one bit. It was still a small victory to see that Tsumugi was rather pissed about this, though. 

Without a single bit of hesitation, Tsumugi stepped forward and onto the pile that was Kokichi’s. ‘We’ll have to weaken the witch! The one that still has a torch ready, again attempt to light Saihara on fire!’, Tsumugi yelled out harshly to reach the villagers over the storm, and out of her pocket she took a knife. People didn’t completely notice her methods as their attention was now on the person that stepped forward to re-burn Shuichi basically, but Kokichi held his breath as he glared at the blue haired woman. ‘Don’t worry, this won’t kill you. It’ll just weaken you. I wouldn’t give up the fun for an easy kill, of course’, Tsumugi mumbled to him with a wicked smirk, her sharp red nails contrasting against the blade she was holding. No big deal to her, it seemed. Without hesitation it was stabbed harshly into his side, pulled out, and she let the blade fall into the hay for it to be burned together with Kokichi himself.

Shuichi finally let his eyes open, noticing the figure that was getting closer to him. With a pained groan from the male next to him, something that he didn’t wish to see, the weather calmed down just a bit. The woman that was coming towards him was Kaede. Her hood had protected her torch enough for her to be able to keep it lit, and if Shuichi hadn’t cried out everything he had from the pain, he would have shed a tear at this probably. 

Strangely enough though, Kaede kept her hood down low, as she went and stood behind him, lowering the torch into the pile of wood and hay there. When she came back up, Shuichi could feel a strange sensation near his hands, as slowly the rope he was bound with loosened. He looked over his shoulder at the girl with shock, noticing that she was holding a small blade and cutting the ropes. ‘When they’re distracted, you run’, Kaede hissed towards him quietly, before she got off of the pile and back into the crowd again as if nothing had happened. 

Blood dribbled down from Kokichi’s wound, and with a small chuckle he noticed that it indeed lit his own pile on fire as well. He figured, that the kingdom was what indeed was suffering because of him, but only because of his blood. For some reason, now that the thought he was actually going to die like this had dawned on him, he didn’t feel fear. It was worse. He was bored. Actually, completely and utterly bored. 

And yet, something happened that did catch his attention right at that moment. 

A hooded woman was the first to call out ‘Someone’s nearing!’, and most of the people in the crowd turned to look at a carriage from the kingdom riding down swiftly, horses kept by the servant called Kaito, and he definitely didn’t seem to be all too good at that; the carriage slung around a bit and many were afraid it wouldn’t stop soon enough, but with a troubled face, Kaito Momota did manage to stop the horses before they actually stepped onto someone. He got out of his drivers seat, and opened the door to the carriage, mumbling an apology to those that had been in it. Out stepped… Rantaro, held up by Kirumi. Some of the villagers that knew what had happened to him gasped, and now everyone paid attention towards him.

The green haired male stumbled a bit as he bashfully leaned against the very able silver haired servant that helped him step forward, without a single complaint supporting his weight. ‘Stop this!’, Rantaro called out once he had gotten closer to the crowd, his voice still a little hoarse. ‘Tsumugi is the monster here- I can tell you everything!’. And surely, that is what he started to do after giving Shuichi and Kokichi a sympathetic look. People were actually listening to him, mostly out of curiosity to what was going on. Knowing that things were going to turn alright this suddenly, Kokichi let himself finally give up for a moment, as his legs gave in, although he still was bound to the stake, with crimson red blood running out of the gash to his skin. 

As Rantaro was explaining the situation, Kaede pulled down her hood a bit and nodded towards Shuichi. The whole crowd of villagers was interested in what was actually going on and even Tsumugi was distracted since Amami wasn’t supposed to wake up yet, unless they had a really good nurse and that girl seemed way too messy to be able to be this talented. So Shuichi let the cut loose rope fall off his wrists and onto the pile, before silently reaching forward. The fire was burning behind him and he could see it reaching his bag. Still, he pushed himself through it and reached his hand through the flames, hissing quietly as he grabbed a hold of one of the handles on it. He slung the still hot but luckily not too damaged object over his shoulder, as he rushed towards Kokichi.   
  
His heart was beating loud in his chest, because what was the plan? It wouldn’t take long for someone to turn around and realise the two kids at the stake were gone. Still, he forced himself to think about that later as he stepped onto the pile that Kokichi was on, and tried to loosen the knot that was bound around his wrists, red and pained looking from how tight he was tied up. Ouma himself was a bit out of it, and it worried Shuichi, but worries had to come later. He needed to get Kokichi out of here.   
  
The knot wasn’t getting looser. It was a great despair that the male felt as he tried and tried to loosen it, but failed to with his pained hands. He whimpered to himself, tears running down his cheeks again as though they belonged there, his feet and his legs and his skin overall hurting, but he kept tugging onto the rope as if his life depended on it. Then, he saw something in the flames near the male’s feet. The dagger that Tsumugi had used when she tried to “weaken” the boy. 

The feeling of fire entering his system triggered the boy into shaking a bit, his hands balling at his sides, which hurt. And still. He had to. The flames had hurt his hand before when he reached to his bag, and he knew that the metal would be much hotter to hold, and still. It was either his hand or Ouma, and the choice was swiftly made, even if it was a horrible one. When he saved the prince, he could get him out of there and they would have to find some water somewhere to make sure their burn wounds didn’t get worse than they already were, so it was a temporary thing to struggle with… hopefully. 

So, closing one eye and hissing as his sensitive skin again came in contact with the heat he grabbed onto the handle of the blade and pulled it up, before with a swift motion freeing the purple haired prince. He dropped the knife immediately and wrapped an arm around the lower body of the purplenette, that looked at him a little dazed. The only plan that Shuichi had was to hide in the woods for now until he came with a better plan, so ignoring his small questions,Shuichi dragged the purple haired prince with him towards the bushes, glancing over his shoulder to see if Rantaro was still distracting everyone. He would’ve loved to be able to talk to him now that he was doing okay again, but that wasn’t possible for now if he didn’t want his effort to escape to be for nothing. 

With Ouma stumbling and basically leaning onto because of his blood loss, Shuichi just gritted his teeth and ignored the pain in his skin and mostly his feet, pulling him further until they were safely hid somewhere further in the forest. He carefully helped Kokichi to lean against a tree so he could give himself a moment to breathe normally again. They couldn’t go back to his hometown, not like this. They would have to go through the village and being injured people would definitely catch them too quickly. So living with Kiibo wasn’t an option. But then, he thought about something. 

‘Kokichi, you said that you had friends living up in the mountains, right?’, Shuichi asked carefully. The other male that had his hand clutched at his side nodded, groaning quietly in pain. ‘Mhm- why?’. 

‘Well, prepare for a bit of a trip, prince Ouma’, the bluenette mumbled, again reaching his arm around the prince’s waist as he leaned against him, and together they started to stumble towards their new set destination. 


	15. Keep Moving

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Come on, we have to keep moving’, Shuichi muttered as he gripped onto the hand that lay against his chest, Kokichi’s arm loosely wrapped around his shoulder and Shuichi’s around the smaller boy’s waist as he supported him to move forward.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Not much to say here, but it is time for new people and a ship to be added to the story!   
> I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint- 
> 
> Warning: mentioning of gore, the usual.

‘Come on, we have to keep moving’, Shuichi muttered as he gripped onto the hand that lay against his chest, Kokichi’s arm loosely wrapped around his shoulder and Shuichi’s around the smaller boy’s waist as he supported him to move forward. Every time his arm threatened to slip Shuichi would be sure to grip his wrist and stop them from coming to a fall in the middle of a forest, possibly to be impaled by branches that lay scattered all over the place and to have some open wounds infected by the dirt that most definitely was on the ground. Trees shielded them a bit from the rain although small drops of water that left the leafs early splattered onto them anyway, and that wasn’t a problem, as Shuichi soon realised that it was quite nice to have something cold to touch his heated skin. The sounds made by humans started to faint a bit the further away they got from the village, even if it was in a fairly slow tempo. What mattered the most is that they were trying, and hopefully would succeed, to reach their new found destination: up in the mountains.   
  
His skin ached, but Saihara bit his lip and continued to push forward, deciding to try and focus on anything else than the pain he could feel. It had been a rough couple of days for sure, and he was exhausted, although he didn’t fully comprehend the extent of this exhaustion. As they walked small twigs and leafs underneath him crackled and snapped softly. He didn’t really often spend time in a forest; the field he used to go to when he tried to get rid of the stress that people around him gave him didn’t really count as a forest after all. He had never really thought about the fact that walking through a forest, seeing the different types of trees and hearing almost nothing but nature around him could be quite relaxing in a way. The scent of plants filled his brain, making him want to close his eyes. He forced them to stay open, shaking his head a bit. 

The path the males were walking on was basically trampled on, a human and perhaps animal made pathway that would lead them wherever. It wasn’t like the destination mattered too much, as long as they could get somewhere. The purple haired prince’s head started to rest against Shuichi’s shoulder as his feet slowly but surely stopped moving, and a little bit worried, Saihara shook him a bit. ‘Prince Ouma, you can’t stop now, they might already be looking for us!’, he hissed in a soft voice. He wasn’t sure why, but it didn’t feel appropriate to raise his voice too much and disturb the quiet peaceful atmosphere that the high trees looking down at them and protecting them had created. 

‘W-well, I’m sorry Shu-chan’, Kokichi murmured, his brows frowning a bit as he definitely was using more energy than he should have for this, and needed a rest, but they couldn’t rest now. ‘It’s just, you’re fuckin’ boring. Of course ‘m gonna.. hm.. fall asleep’, Kokichi snickered quietly, coughing softly afterwards as he let out a quiet groan. Shuichi sight softly and shook his head, hoisting Kokichi up a little again as he had slumped down a little, sternly but surely forcing him to move forward. ‘Well then, how can I make this trip more interesting for you?’, he asked, his voice giving away that he wasn’t as annoyed as he tried to seem. 

The purple haired prince stayed silent for a bit, thinking, and from the corner of his eyes Shuichi could see the batting of his eyelashes and the again somewhat blank expression, although it was more pained than usual. He seemed to be trying hard to stay at least a bit composed like this, clutching his side and Shuichi with the other arm. ‘... Talk’, Ouma eventually huffed out, stubbornly resting his head against Saihara’s shoulder again, although he managed to walk further now. ‘..Talk? What about?’, the bluenette asked with interest, holding onto the male’s wrist softly, and feeling his pulse. It was fairly faint, but there. ‘Anything. Just talk to me’, Kokichi responded. His voice was vulnerable in a way that Saihara couldn’t bare to say no. He didn’t really want to anyway, not when he was in this condition. Shuichi’s own stubbornness could only get so far after all. 

‘I-I’m not that interesting, but I’ll think of something to talk about’, the servant chuckled bashfully as he turned his face away so he wouldn’t have to see the look on Ouma’s face to that confession. ‘Talk about home’, Ouma told him calmly, his eyes stuck on where they were going and not showing much emotion. Shuichi shrugged a bit for as far he was able to as he nearly tripped over a fallen branch. They did really have to look where they were going here. ‘I think I’ve told you about my home and my parents quite enough back at the castle’, Shuichi responded with a small hum, furrowing his brows. ‘I don’t think you’d want to listen to that sap story again, now, would you?’. 

‘That’s not what I meant’, Kokichi mumbled. His hand cramped up a little bit, and his gaze was sharp as he didn’t look at the boy next to him, no matter how curiously the bluenette’s eyes pried into the trickster himself. ‘I meant, where you feel at home’, he continued to explain. His cheeks tinted a little red from this explanation, apparently embarrassed by his own nature being like this. He was interested after all, even when he tried not to show it. The wall of lies and tricks he had built around him didn’t affect the servant all too much, and he didn’t really mind that for some reason. Most servants had tried to avoid him at all cost, but Shuichi had willingly spent time with him. Whether he was an actual detective or he was simply a fool, that remained a fact. 

‘Where I feel at- alright, I can do that, I think’, Shuichi nodded in confirmation, blinking as he noticed the sky darkening around them. It was getting late, and he could only guess for how long they had been knocked out before he woke up bound to the stake. The memory made him shudder so he decided not to think about it too much and to move forward. They had a long way to go considering the state they were in, so memories shouldn’t slow them down, or it may be the end of them. 

‘Well, me and Kiibo who I already told you a little about, we used to go to this bar that was basically on the other side of town’, Shuichi hummed. Kokichi looked at his face, smiling a little bit as he noticed the different nostalgic look on there. He was sure he had spent enough time with the servant to notice what type of thoughts he was having sometimes, and now it was the moment for him to state facts, since he didn’t look like he doubted himself. ‘On the other side of town?’, Ouma questioned, seemingly more conscious now that they were actually engaging in a conversation. The bluenette smiled a little embarrassedly, nodding. ‘Yeah, it was one of the only bars that didn’t kick me out right at arrival, and the only one where I was pretty sure the bartender wouldn’t spit in my drink upon serving’, he chuckled dryly, no humor in his voice as he said this. 

Kokichi remembered him explaining once that everyone in his hometown hated him for solving a certain case that should’ve stayed unsolved, although he couldn’t quite remember why that was. ‘People were really that pissed at you?’, he asked, a dramatic gasp in his voice for as far as he could still muster theatrics, and he leaned against the male walking next to him. ‘You must’ve done something horrible to them then!’. The servant stayed silent for a little bit, biting his lip as he thought of how to answer. ‘Well, you’ve read my notebook, haven’t you? I investigated the murder on an innocent woman in another town, and the truth made them despise me’, Saihara muttered. ‘Right, because the culprit was a friend of your governor or something, right?’, Kokichi added as he remembered what had been written down. 

Shuichi nodded, sighing softly. ‘Once I had brought the information to the authorities, the other town asked a big sum of money not to make the information public outside of their towns. It could’ve seriously damaged the reputation of the governor and therefore of our town, so they paid it. And the money that was lost was being gained back by raising the taxes for the villagers quite a bit’, the bluenette mumbled, looking down at his feet as he said this. ‘Some families barely made it already, and it was my fault that they had worse money problems to deal with after I uncovered a truth that should’ve stayed covered’. 

‘Well then’, Kokichi hummed, breaking the tense silence that had followed. ‘Didn’t know my beloved Saihara-chan was a snitch! Wowsa!’. Not keeping in mind that they were wounded, the bluenette shoved Ouma in the side as he grumbled quitely. ‘Not funny’, he told him, and hearing the purple haired prince snicker and cough softly from this was enough of an apology to the servant. He had really grown too soft towards this asshole, that was for sure. And for some reason, Shuichi himself couldn’t help the quiet laugh that left his own lips. It was as if the trickster and liar of a prince was infectious; he could laugh at the most stupid and worse things, making them lighter in a way, and although it didn’t fix their problems, it was the best second option if they were unable to change the past in the first place. 

‘But, you were speaking of a bar where you went to drink underage’, Kokichi interrupted the sentence that Shuichi was about to push from himself, booping his cheek with his finger for as far as he was able to. Although he seemed to have a big amount of energy, most of it was definitely drained from the experiences and situations they found themselves in the last couple of days and mostly hours. ‘That is… a way to describe it’, Shuichi cleared his throat softly, his cheeks again turning a little red. It wasn’t like they drank much alcohol at all in there; other drinks that were free of it were more common for them to order. Still, there was something mischievous about it, which again reminded him of the male next to him. 

‘Wow, Saihara-chan is a criminal! That’s so sexy’, Kokichi sighed dreamily, letting his eyes close as he nuzzled his head against the aspiring detective’s shoulder, hearing the surprised snort that came from the bluenette. ‘I’m not a criminal, shut up, you’, Shuichi huffed embarrassedly as he pinched the boy in the side that wasn’t injured, deciding he deserved it for that comment as he squeaked out a little painfully. 

‘Well, we had a spot in the back where we liked to sit, since people would leave us alone there. Even though it was a little dark of a place and the people that we encountered were.. questionable, it was still my favorite moment of the week’, Shuichi mumbled, a fond smile at his face from the memory. ‘We would simply tell each other about our week, and if we had nothing to say, we would listen in on conversations of those around us, and together we would try to puzzle our way through them. I one time called him Watson by accident, and whenever Kiibo has something to drink, he likes to jab at me for this by calling me Holmes’, the bluenette laughed embarrassedly at the memory, shaking his head a little bit. He had just read the magazines that the stories were in, and he had been so invested in them that evening that it had made him feel like a real detective. 

‘I’ll have to meet him one day’, Ouma said, ‘seeing he sounds special to you. I’m kinda jealous, you know?’. That made Shuichi chuckle softly, holding onto the hand that was draped over his shoulder, almost forgetting where they were going for the moment as he was talking to the prince. ‘No need to be jealous, you’re special too’, the servant responded before he could realise what exactly he was saying, feeling his cheeks heat up the moment the words left his lips. ‘I-I mean- you know-’. The confession seemed to embarrass the prince himself as well, although he brushed it off quickly. ‘Uh, duh! I may hope I’m special, I’m a witch for fuck sake’, he rolled his eyes, blowing a raspberry at the small ‘ _ language, Ouma’  _ that came from the blue haired servant. 

The boys were nearing the end of the forest now, and the darkness of the early night had long settled. Still, Shuichi was able to see lights near the mountains that were probably placed there for if the people that lived up there needed to come down during darker times. If he looked well enough, the forest was connected to a small grassland field, open and out there, which he hoped wouldn’t cause much of a problem. After all, they would be viewable there from the castle, as well as that they would officially have left the kingdom as far as the servant was concerned. 

‘Speaking of which’, Shuichi continued, even if it was simply to keep the male next to him talking so he wouldn’t accidentally pass out. He wasn’t doing too great it seemed, but he was trying, and that was enough. ‘The… storm, that extinguished the fire. My fire, I mean. Was that… was that… you?’, he asked carefully, big eyes curiously pointed at the male next to him, that duck his head down a little bit. Kokichi hummed, eyeing him. ‘I guess so’, he responded simply, although Saihara couldn’t be sure whether or not he was pleased with this. 

_ Knew it,  _ he wanted to say, but refrained from doing so. instead, he decided to treat his curiosity a little bit by letting himself ask more questions. ‘Well… how does it work? How do you do it, I mean, if you don’t mind me asking’, he quickly added, hoping it wasn’t too far into personal territory that Kokichi wouldn’t want to share. ‘I mean, I have noticed small things, but I’ve never seen you control something as big as the weather before’, Shuichi continued, knowing he had started to ramble a bit, and feeling embarrassed for it. 

Kokichi hummed quietly, thinking for a moment as he followed the bluenette’s lead, forcing his feet to take him forward even if he was tired. ‘I’m… not sure’, he responded, his voice soft and again a bit vulnerable. Although he wasn’t that surprised by the answer, Saihara still frowned a bit, his forced detective instinct telling him to ask a little further. ‘You’re not sure?’, he repeated but now as a question. The closer they were getting to the end of the forest, the less trees there were to protect them, and it was more frequently now that droplets of water fell onto them. ‘No, it just happened. I’m.. not sure what I did’, Ouma replied, his gaze on the way ahead of them. He liked having control over things, so this was a bit of a touchy subject. 

‘Do you know how to control it?’, Shuichi asked then, fueled by curiosity. He didn’t mean any ill of course, he was just curious to how exactly this may work. The purple haired prince shook his head only once, still avoiding the servant’s gaze and sighing softly. ‘Not really. I know what causes it, and there’s not much I can do about it’, he muttered. ‘Emotions, right?’, the aspiring detective filled in the blanks for himself, knowing that was what he had read in the books of Amami that had now been burned by Tsumugi. It still angered him when he thought about the fact that she so easily destroyed years of research and presents from people that the green haired male held dear to him. Rantaro had woken up obviously, to the knowledge that this what he had lived for all this time had completely vanished. Shuichi simply hoped that he was doing alright. 

‘Yeah, that’s right’, Ouma said with a small huff. He didn’t like to think of himself as an emotional person, and yet he couldn’t help but to give in to the fact that it were indeed emotions that fueled his powers. He had no idea how to control them, unless he mastered his own emotions. That’s why he loved putting on a show after all; he could mask everything he really felt, and his powers that could cause destruction were mostly filtered into smaller inconveniences. ‘I was just… really pissed off, so I guess that’s where the storm came from’, the male said humorlessly, biting his lip afterward. 

Shuichi thought for a bit again, one finger pressed to his lip in a way he used to when he was making theories, and if Kokichi wasn’t in pain, he would’ve probably found it cute. ‘Well, maybe you could try to cause certain emotions in yourself at some point, to control it? Like, you could think of something that makes you sad, and see what happens. Theoretically’, the bluenette told him, with a nod as if to confirm his own thoughts. Ouma blinked, now eyeing him with a sharp look. ‘Is now really the right time?’, he asked, his voice a little irritated, although he wasn’t necessarily annoyed with the servant. He simply wanted for them to change the subject to something that didn’t make him feel out of control. 

‘I mean, we’re almost in the open field there. You could try to think of something that saddens you, and see what happens, right? Things can’t exactly get worse for us right now anyway’, Shuichi told him calmly, helping the male step over a fallen tree. His feet landed back onto the muddy ground and he nodded slowly in response, supposing that the other was right. They had nothing to lose right now, so if he wanted to experiment, now was probably the best time to do so. So, ignoring his worries, Ouma let his eyes close as he followed Shuichi’s lead blindly now, deciding to try and think about something that would’ve affected him. 

They crossed the barrier that was between forest and the green grass that connected to the mountains eventually. Saihara felt the strange urge to start running tug at his heart as the small droplets of water reached his face, the urge to grab Kokichi by the hand and run towards their destination like their life depended on it, which he supposed it did. But the purplenette still had his eyes closed, focussed on only his thoughts with a frown. And Shuichi decided not to take him out of that focus, since it could proof to be a good thing for their experiment. 

As they were walking, clothes getting more wet and feet dragging through the high grass that reached up to their knees almost, Shuichi noticed how Kokichi’s pace of walking started to slow a bit, and with concern he turned to face the other male. He still had his eyes close tightly, a troubled look on his face instead of the usual blankness whenever he wasn’t faking anything. As he opened his lips to try and speak to the boy, he suddenly heard a strange rumble in the sky. He turned his face and looked up into the sky, noticing the multiple clouds forming as the sky was turning darker than it had before. Thick droplets of water fell on his face, and he could see the purple haired prince shaking a bit. Both hands he placed on his shoulders, hoping to calm him down at least a bit, but it didn’t do much. The rain only fell down onto them harder. Although it was a blessing for the previous burn wounds that now managed to cool down, the water felt hard on most of his skin, painfully ticking against their heads. 

‘Ouma-kun, hey’, Shuichi spoke up, raising his voice so it would be heard, but Kokichi didn’t respond. He could hear the rumbling of the sky, closer this time, and in the corner of his eye he noticed flashing bolts of lightning near the forest which made him jump up a little startedly. Thick pieces of ice were now falling from the sky although it was barely winter yet, and he could only see a humorless grin on the purple haired male’s face, one he often pulled defensively when something displeased him. ‘Ouma, that’s enough, please calm down’, he tried again, shaking his shoulders a bit. The breeze was acting up and although his clothes and hair stuck to his skin, now they were wildly swaying with the weather, as he felt simply how cold he was. 

Shuichi started to worry for Kokichi’s situation, and his breathing sped up as he realised that he had done this. He had made Ouma challenge himself right now by bringing up the idea, and he wasn’t sure if it was really that good of an idea after all. Not when Kokichi seemed in some sort of self created trance that kept him from hearing or listening to Shuichi telling him to calm down and to come back to reality. Seeing that he was standing a little unstable, instinctively Shuichi let his arms wrap around the male’s lower and upper back to keep him up, basically pressing their noses together so that the other would keep his head up. It was an impulsive action that he hadn’t thought through at all, but anything was better than to let the male fall unconscious and get hurt again. 

For some reason as Saihara’s arms locked around the prince, things seemed to calm down a little bit. ‘Kokichi, I’m here, please come back’, Shuichi said, his voice fairly soft. That felt right, in a way. He felt like he needed to calm him down, and he didn’t object to the thought at all. They had been through quite enough for the day, after all. Slowly but surely, those eyes with those pretty lashes fluttered open again, showcasing the lavender purple eyes looking back into Shuichi’s own. He had been told that his own eyes were mostly a bit greyish, but whenever he got excited over something, there would be a hint of gold to be seen in there. He wasn’t sure whether this was true or not right now, but he did know that nothing was as rewarding as seeing the male calm down in his arms, their noses pressed together softly as water connected them like a strange type of glue that didn’t work all to well, but didn’t need to work either. 

The weather slowly started to calm down, a breeze less harsh and a rainfall less aggressive. Ouma was taking deep breaths, and Shuichi listened to him doing this, slightly fascinated. The two of them were standing in the open field, vulnerable to so much of the world, and it still felt personal. Secret. It was a strange sensation. ‘You okay now?’, Shuichi asked softly, his eyes still focussed on the other boy. He hummed a yes in response, as his hand moved to Shuichi’s chest, gripping onto the water drained shirt he was wearing. ‘I…’, he muttered, gulping down the words, but Saihara was sure he knew what he wanted to say.  _ I’m sorry. _

‘Don’t be’, Shuichi responded instantly as his gaze softened. His thumb rested on the male’s shoulder, and rubbed small circles into them, feeling the other calm down a little more as he did so. It was tempting, to give into his instincts and to help himself calm down from his moments of worry, doubt and pain by leaning in to the prince now, letting him take over his mind even if it was just for a second, but it didn’t seem fair. Not towards himself, for doing something he knew he shouldn’t be doing. Not towards Kokichi, for taking advantage of a weak moment. Not towards the world, even if fate had tried to push them together long ago already. So instead of listening to that voice in the back of his mind telling him that now was the moment, he stepped back, and cleared his throat softly. ‘So.. what happened?’, he asked, like whatever had just happened didn’t need to be spoken about. 

Strangely enough, Ouma seemed to appreciate this. ‘Like you said, I tried to think of something that upset me’, Kokichi told him calmly, staring straight ahead as without another word he let his arm wrap around the bluenette’s shoulder again to lean on to him, as the aspiring detective made sure they stayed moving again. They were so close to the mountains, there was no point in lacking now, even if Kokichi seemed even more exhausted as before. ‘I thought of you’, the purplenette said, startling the blue haired servant a bit, that hoped he didn’t mean that  _ he  _ upset the other male. That would’ve made him feel horrible. Fortunately, Kokichi decided to continue his story, not leaving it at just that. ‘Everything that has happened to you, even though it shouldn’t have. It made me mad, and pissed that I couldn’t do anything’. 

Shuichi was silent for a bit, thinking about this as he and Kokichi were nearing the grey and tall mountains they were heading towards. ‘Well, life works like that. There’s nothing you could’ve done about this, so don’t beat yourself up over it’, Shuichi eventually decided to tell him. Ever since he had come to the castle he had felt this sense of fate that he couldn’t explain, and even though it had now basically showed not to have been a correct feeling since he was basically banned from there now with the witch he had ran away with, he wished to still think of the possibility that he did have a purpose. That things happened to him, to  _ them _ for a greater reason. 

Kokichi didn’t respond to this. He didn’t need to. The sound of nature was being left behind and was exchanged for a silence that would’ve been frightening if the rain wasn’t there to compensate for it. Although the purplenette’s grip on him had loosened more than before, Shuichi didn’t pay much mind to it as they pushed through. In the back of his head he could still hear the ruckus and chaos going on in the kingdom that they were leaving behind, even if he tried not to pay much mind to it, so out of both fear and curiosity which seemed to grip him tighter than any hands ever could, he let himself look over his shoulder, back to where they were basically running away from. 

Smoke seemed to come from seperate places in the kingdom. There definitely were fires, even if they didn’t manage to burn the two they were actually after, and it pained Shuichi to see how much of a problem they had created,  _ he  _ had created. The problem was actually located in the backpack that was still loosely slung over his shoulder, a thing he almost forgot about, but the restrainment against his back reminded him of his own part in this play. Kokichi could have lived there many years, could have become a great king if it weren’t for his tendency to write things down in the journal. 

Absentmindedly Shuichi’s feet felt the road they were now walking on, eyeing at the big castle. He hoped that Rantaro and Kirumi as well as Kaito would be okay, after what they had done. ‘I wonder what it’s like inside of the palace right now’, he thought out loud, scratching his chin softly. Amami woke up god knows at what time, but what had happened next? Had he spoken to the king and queen after he awoke from his forced slumber, telling them the misunderstandings and that Tsumugi was the mastermind behind everything that had been going on. If he was feeling daring he could’ve even explained that she was a manipulator, and very likely the same person as Junko Enoshima that had been banished from the village before. They would’ve understood that he was right since he was the one being knocked out by the actual culprit in the place, and at least Shirogane would be stopped and hopefully locked away. 

On the other hand, there was a possibility that the nurse explained him the haste in the situation as soon as Rantaro woke up, and he had immediately gathered those that were able to go with him to at least stop the village from burning his friends. That was as well a big possibility, now that he thought about it. It would explain the company he had chosen, and the swiftness he had come to the place with. But that would mean they probably directly went against queen and king’s orders, and they may be fired for this alone, set on the street with nothing to do. ‘I hope that Amami, Tojo and Momota are alright now’, Shuichi said as he stopped himself from looking over his shoulder. They were next to the path leading up in the mountains now, so there wasn’t much they could do with thinking back about the castle. There was nothing they could do about the situation there, after all. 

‘You ready to climb this mountain?’, Shuichi asked a little jokingly, as he faced the male next to him. However, his face swiftly fell when he saw how pale the boy was, and how weakly he was still leaning against him. ‘Shit- Ouma, are you alright?’, he asked with a definite worry in his tone, although he knew the answer: he was definitely not alright. The male was close to passing out, weakly clutching onto the bluenette that had been holding him so far. His eyes were dull, ready to fall shut, and he didn’t have a hold on his own side anymore where a liquid was soaking through the shirt he was wearing, a crimson red that made Shuichi cringe a little bit. 

Carefully prying the boy’s arms of himself, he set him down against the wall of stone that was carved out to make place for the road leading up in the mountains, propping him up a bit. Kokichi let his head fall back lazily, a pained groan escaping him, and Shuichi felt himself getting nervous. ‘I’m going to look at your wound, alright?’, he said, his voice quivering a bit. Ouma had seemed to be doing fine despite being tired, but now it was definitely worrying him. ‘Just-’, Ouma mumbled, gritting his teeth as his body moved away from whatever he was feeling in pain, but he couldn’t escape this soon enough, with a groan resting his limbs and letting Shuichi hold him in place. ‘Just what? What’s wrong?’, Shuichi asked, shaking the boy’s shoulder a bit so he wouldn’t pass out before giving out the possibly important information. 

‘Just..’, Kokichi coughed out softly, making his eyes meet Shuichi’s, as a strange smile played on his chapped lips. ‘..don’t pull my shirt up further than you have to, pervert’, he said with a somewhat hoarse voice, definitely taking energy to say this, and Saihara wouldn’t be surprised if he was proud of himself for it as well. 

A moment there Shuichi felt like punching him for this, but instead he just rolled his eyes and scolded the male for being immature, before pushing up his shirt a bit and taking a look at the damage. He never could handle gore that well, so it did make him cringe a bit again to see the red skin, opened and irritated as droplets of crimson fell from it still. The knife hadn’t been put in too deep, and he knew he wouldn’t die from the internal wound, but he could definitely bleed out if he was left like this. Without a second thought, Shuichi ripped a part from his own already ruined shirt, and bound it around the male’s waist, so it fit tightly against the wound. It wouldn’t help him heal, but it was enough to stop the bleeding for now. He hoped that those alleged friends of Kokichi knew a bit of first aid. 

Although he carefully put Ouma down, trying to get him to stand up and walk, the male wobbled on his legs a little. A bit reluctantly, Shuichi turned his back towards the other. ‘Can you at least jump up? I’ll carry you if I have to’, the bluenette muttered, a little embarrassed for this but also determined. He was going to save Ouma now, like the prince had saved him before at the stake. 

And so they carried on walking through the mountains, Kokichi on Shuichi’s back as his arms were thrown loosely around his neck and his head was resting on the boy’s shoulder, while the other was holding his legs up so he wouldn’t fall to the ground. Shuichi’s face was in a permanent uncomfortable position since it  _ hurt,  _ but he managed to pull through. Even if every step seemed a little heavier than the last one, and the mountain pathway being this long was a bit discouraging, the breathing of the prince against his back reminded him of the fact that he wasn’t doing this just for himself, so he forced himself to continue. 

‘Those friends of yours, do they live far away?’, Shuichi puffed out as he paused walking only for a moment, before hoisting the male on his back up a little and going further. Still a bit out of it, Ouma shook his head against his shoulder. ‘First house. You’ll see’, he muttered, and that was all the explanation he got. He hoped it was all he would need, as well. It better be a very noticeable house that was just a couple more minute away for Shuichi to be able to find it. 

A tweeting sound caught Saihara’s attention as they walked in silence, only the sound of his footsteps hearable in the otherwise quiet and abandoned mountains. Next to him on a branch of an abandoned tree sat two birds, huddled together, looking right back at him with their little black eyes. Their little, stupid bead eyes. Shuichi felt the groan and the feeling of annoyance in his stomach grow. ‘Yeah, fate, fate, I know’, he grumbled out, shaking his head as he resisted the urge to yell at the tree. Right now fate could go fuck itself in the servant’s honest and humble opinion. All he wanted right now was not to die right there and then, to live, and to move on from the strange experiences he had gone through today. Right now destiny and what was meant to be weren’t his first priorities. 

The walk did feel longer that Ouma had made it seem that it was, but the feeling he got when he started to see a different color, a lighted house up in the mountains with a path leading towards it was amazing. It was as if all the worries and doubts he had were slowly drawing out of him, and letting him live peacefully. Only then did he notice how tired, how insanely tired he was, and how much he just wanted to drop to the ground and cry if he could. It wouldn’t be the first time, he thought humorlessly, but that he didn’t need to mention as he made his way up to the porch of the house.   
  
The house from the outside was rather cute and not that big, but it didn’t matter even the least to him. He would’ve taken it all in if he could, but at the moment he just needed to be saved and kept away from the horror they had just gone through, so without a second thought he knocked onto the door loudly, still with Kokichi clinging onto him like some sort of Monkey. Absentmindedly he was leaning against the wall that was partly next to the door, and he could feel his eyes want to close themselves as his head drooped down a bit, but he couldn’t let that happen. 

Noises were heard from inside of the house, which mostly sounded a little surprised. ‘Maybe it’s Kaz, bringing back the stuff he leant from us’, he could distantly hear a voice in the background, and another one that neither seemed to be affirming or denying the claim. The door was soon thrown open, as a white haired male appeared in the opening of it, a bright smile on his face. ‘Good night, what is it that you seek for at this hour-’, the male started to say, his voice a little raspy and strange, but Shuichi couldn’t care less as he felt like passing out. 

Suddenly the white haired male’s eyes widened a bit as he noticed what was in front of him. ‘Oh, goodie’, he muttered, scratching his neck awkwardly before turning to face whoever was behind him. ‘Uh, dearest?!’, he called out, his voice a little bit panicked. ‘You may want to come over here to see for yourself...!’.


	16. We Made It

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Well. Just… they’re situation reminded me of ours when we had to leave Lavender Kingdom’, the male spoke up, his bony fingers latching onto the average looking boy’s arm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Sorry if this feels rushed- I didn't want to make you guys wait longer.  
> I'm not feeling that well but I'll be fine!! So perhaps updates are even slower than usual, I'm sorry. 
> 
> warning: the usual honestly. 
> 
> Didn't reread cuz I wanna sleep it's late

When the white haired male called out for his so called ‘dearest’ that Shuichi had yet to meet, his legs were close to giving out where he was standing. He couldn’t put Ouma down at the moment though, since that would mean he would allow himself to collapse without checking on the male that he had promised to serve. Even if he technically wasn’t a prince anymore, or well, Shuichi was definitely not a servant anymore. He would be surprised if he made it out alive if he ever decided to try and come back to Lavender Kingdom. This wasn’t the worst of his troubles right now, though, so he couldn’t be bothered about it for a long time. 

To the door came an average looking young man, hair brown and a little spikey as he as well had one of those hairs standing out a bit like Shuichi’s did, although it more seemed to be done on purpose in a way for him to stand out a little more. He looked a bit troubled, but this expression changed into worry as he saw what was at the door. ‘Komaeda, what’s going on?’, the brunette asked, his voice strangely calm even though he looked utmost troubled. The white haired male, apparently called Komaeda, carefully pointed towards the two with a polite smile. ‘I believe that this may not exactly be healthy’, he told the plain looking guy, that inspected the two of them. It was a strange interaction, in Saihara’s state, but at the same time he could feel his eyes close already. ‘Wait- Kokichi?’, the brunette spoke up with a small gasp, finally realising who the familiar looking face belonged to. And in no time was he allowed inside of the house. 

‘Nagito, you take care of kichi, and I’ll see what I can do for this man’, the average looking male spoke swiftly, patiently almost. As he was led inside, he felt less cold, since obviously they had a heater in the place. There were lights and he could see more, but at the same time he felt like he shouldn’t be seeing anything. A good night rest, that is what he needed, but the brunette seemed insistent on being able to do something about his situation. Without bringing in another word the weight was lifted off his back, and he saw how the male that he now supposed was called Nagito Komaeda, picked up the pale looking Ouma. His head lolled to the side a bit, and Shuichi could only blink as he saw those bony hands hold onto the male for dear life like he was going to drop him otherwise. That he didn’t have much strength was what the aspiring detective could lazily assume. 

He remembered hearing the name Nagito before when Rantaro let him read a journal in which he had written about Kokichi. That was the same day the green haired servant had helped him believe that Ouma was a witch but not a bad person, and that this needed to stay a secret for his safety. It could be easily said that keeping secrets apparently was not Shuichi’s strong suit. His head hurt too much to dwell on it for longer than necessary though; he supposed that was the only good side to being injured. At least his mind couldn’t bear to nag him about things for too long. Still, he remembered someone like a Hajime being named in that as well, so he supposed the brown haired male that was leading him up stairs into a bathroom was probably called Hajime. 

Hajime led him up to the bathroom indeed, with a little bit of difficulty since Saihara’s limbs were tired and complaining. Still, he managed, and was sat on the edge of a tub they had in the room, as the brunette looked through different cabinets. ‘Don’t worry, when you’re living with someone like Komaeda, you’re prepared for anything and everything’, Hajime joked softly to lighten the mood a bit, even if Shuichi couldn’t understand what exactly he was implying. There were a grand number of first aid objects in the different cupboard, which made Saihara believe that perhaps someone was simply much of a dare devil and got hurt quite a lot, or one of them was a hypochondriac with an intense fear of getting ill or harmed. 

‘Could you tell me what happened?’, the brunette simply asked, very straightforward as he was still looking through stuff that was in a certain cabinet. Although he would’ve rather kept his mouth shut and just wait for this to be over so he could get some rest, Shuichi nodded in response even though Hajime wouldn’t be able to see this, and tried to think of how to tell him this. ‘You are… Kokichi’s friends, right?’, he started with a careful question, just to be sure that Ouma did lead him to the right house. He was fairly sure that he did, but that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be careful anyway. Hajime looked over his shoulder. ‘Yeah. I’m Hajime Hinata, and the other male you met is my significant other, Nagito Komaeda’, he said, getting up from where he was sitting and a bit awkwardly holding out a hand for Shuichi to shake. ‘Sorry, I should’ve probably introduced myself before’. ‘I-it’s fine’, Saihara replied, taking the hand and shaking it. ‘I’m Shuichi Saihara, a servant of Ouma’s’. 

Hajime smiled a small bit, nodding once towards him as if he approved of the name, and he turned his back to the aspiring detective to go back to looking through the cupboard. There was something about him, a strange type of energy that came from the male, although Shuichi didn’t think too much about it right now. He made sure to roll up the ends of his trousers that were already ripped and gone from the fire anyway, cringing as he saw the burn wounds that were on his legs. ‘Well… I suppose you know about…’, Saihara continued to talk in a way to distract himself, trailing off a bit. ‘About Kokichi being a witch?’, the brunette asked as if it was nothing, his tone a little amused. ‘We have spent enough time with the little man to know, don’t worry’. 

That was at least a weight off of Shuichi’s shoulders. If he needed to explain this, he had to explain that Kokichi was a witch as well after all, and he didn’t want to get kicked out of the only house they could stay at. So the knowledge already having reached this place was quite nice. ‘Oh, well, I found out about that a little while ago. A.. servant, Rantaro Amami helped me realise this’, Saihara muttered. If the green haired male didn’t tell him about all of this, life as he knew it today may have been very different. ‘Oh, Amami! That’s the one with the deep voice and the funny walk, right?’, Hajime wondered out loud, finally taking a strange looking bottle and a small box from the cupboard he had been rummaging through. 

Shuichi snickered quietly, turning to a small cough. ‘Y-yeah. That’s how Kokichi described him as well when I first met him’, he commented with amusement, remembering how he had met Ouma. The male had given him a hard time back then, making sure to confuse the living Hell out of him. He still did from time to time, obviously, but they had definitely grown more used to one another, grown closer. ‘I remember he was some sort of adventurer, right?’, the brunette wondered out loud, placing both of the objects he was holding near Shuichi. 

‘Yeah… he had all kinds of books and journals about the places he had gone through. But they were burned’, Shuichi said, sadness in his voice. The whole situation was sad after all. ‘This may feel really cold’, Hajime warned him as he opened the small box he was holding, which held a strange type of cream in it, in a light yellow color. Hajime saw his interested look at the thing, and he chuckled bashfully. ‘Uh, a friend of ours gifted us this when Nagito managed to burn down our shed in the high summer last year. He had actually meant for it to be used on the animals, but Nagito didn’t understand, and we used it on him instead. His burn wounds healed pretty quickly’, Hajime explained, scratching his neck. Then he took some of the cream onto his hands and started to apply it to the wounds on Shuichi’s legs.   
  
It was really cold, that was true, and Saihara hissed quietly. But at the same time, he felt a huge relieve wash over him as every single one of the wounds was treated. Although a thick layer was applied on his skin, it seemed to be taken in very easily. Hajime moved to his hands that had small burn wounds on them as well, looking as concentrated as ever. ‘Continue’, he simply said. It was strange how he wasn’t that phased seeing injuries, but perhaps it was because of this thing he mentioned about Nagito. ‘Well, the place got burned as I said, and the woman who did it managed to make it seem like Ouma was at fault. We… should have been burned at the stake, but we managed to escape from there, and now we’re here’, Shuichi said simply, sighing quietly. 

‘Oh, well. I’m glad that you managed to, then’, Hinata responded, realising the subject was probably still a little hard to talk about for the other, so he let it be for now. He picked out the small bottle he was also holding, which contained a type of lotion, and again added it to Shuichi’s skin. This was a lot warmer, but for some reason it didn’t make his wounds act up, so he was glad for that. Hinata smiled a bit at the response, and looked up at Shuichi as he had kneeled to the floor so he could apply it to him. ‘Well, that should be enough. How are you feeling?’. 

‘Tired’, Shuichi responded in all honesty, a humorless chuckle escaping his lips. God, he was tired. His limbs were whining for him to just fall and do nothing, lay there for now and forever, but he was fairly sure the bathroom wasn’t a great place to fall asleep in. ‘Well. You can take a shower here, and dress up in some new clothes in the bedroom that Komaeda will have made ready for you and Kokichi. If you want to, we’ll make you some tea downstairs?’, Hajime asked, his voice a bit caring. This was a different vibe than he had felt from him before, and he decided he didn’t mind it. ‘That would be great’, Saihara responded, thinking about just drinking some of the warm and calming liquid before getting into bed like he felt he kind of deserved right now. 

‘I’ll be downstairs with Nagito then’, the brunette told him as he got up from where he was kneeled down, and dusted off his own pants a bit. ‘If you need us, you can just come down or call. Take your time’, Hajime promised, giving a small wave before leaving the bathroom before the bluenette could even thank him. He was now alone in the bright room, eyeing the tub behind him, that also consisted a shower for him to be able to cleanse himself off. The bathroom had a small window, and with a bit of curiosity Shuichi walked up to it, pushing the blinds up a little to look through it. All he saw was an open field leading somewhere with other small buildings that were made of the same material this house had been made off, and a glass building that as well intrigued him. Because of the rainfall on it he couldn’t quite see what was in there, but he could only assume that since Hajime and Nagito didn’t belong to the kingdom anymore, they had to take care of their own food. 

Letting go of the blinds, Shuichi kicked off his old clothes, letting them fall to the floor mindlessly. He was glad to see that besides his lower legs and hands, he wasn’t that much injured except for a few small bruises that probably wouldn’t take too long to heal. There was a mirror in the room, and he decided to avoid it for now, since he probably looked like shit from what he’d been through. His hair at least felt like strands of hay, now they had been rained on and dried only to be drowned in salty rain again. 

He turned on the faucet, feeling drops of somewhat cold water fall onto him, and honestly, that was quite alright. He didn’t need to take a warm shower at all; he just wanted to clean off the bad memories and the gross feeling that today had brought him, and then he’d be alright. There was a soap placed in the tub that he realised he should probably use, and strangely enough, as he rubbed it on the untainted parts of his body, he could smell a soft scent of lavender coming from his own skin. A sweet, and yet mature and intelligent scent of soft lavender, reminding him of a certain boy with purple strands of hair that bounced up unruly no matter what one tried to do to his hair, eyes as pretty as any of the paintings that could have hung inside of the Lavender Kingdom castle, a quick witted and somewhat childish spirit as well as an intelligence that he liked to hide beneath tricks and lies, to bring it out unexpectedly. 

Shuichi reached a hand to his cheeks, feeling small drops of water on them. He brought his finger to his lips, and tasted the saltiness that wasn’t the same as the water that came from the shower head. And it started a small chain reaction of more of the drops of despair leaving his eyes, as he leaned his back against the tiled wall behind him, choked sobs leaving his system. He wasn’t even sure why he was crying, but now that it started, he felt like he couldn’t stop. 

The last couple of days had been horrible to both him and Ouma. All the stress that had filled them gave not a single moment to leave their bodies, and all joined together into a big mess of a pile with worry and hatred and doubt being the main objects that held the mess together. He wasn’t sure what he had done to deserve all of this, and he wanted to know. Was fate a lie? Had it been mocking him all this time, had the universe looked down on him and laughed at his pathetic attempts to reach this fateful faith of him, knowing full well that the male was reaching toward a dark and empty room that didn’t contain anything for him to grasp? The stories, the feelings, they had all fit together so perfectly only to crumble down at its highest peak. He was granted a wish, a high expectation of life, dangled in front of him and just a bit out of reach so he would feed into it and run after it even if he was a bit scared to do so, to find out that what it had been dangling from wasn’t a simple cord, but a barbed wire that stuck to his skin and watched him bleed out where he was still hoping for some type of miracle, laughing at his pathetic form. Did fate even exist, for someone like Shuichi? 

For a moment circumstances had made him believe that yes, even someone like him had a higher purpose. But perhaps it had all been a lie. A lie that he couldn’t unravel and see motive through like Ouma’s lies, but one that was nothing other than a dark haze of mockery. 

Saihara shook his head at himself as he tried to stop thinking and make himself come back to the present time. He washed his hair mindlessly, the water warming up to him now and streaming over his body quite nicely, nothing in contrast to the harsh rain that he had felt multiple times today. He wasn’t used to showering this late at night, but he supposed there were more things he would eventually have to get used to in this trainwreck of a life. He almost slipped over the piece of soap that he had put back into the tub where it had been at first when he turned the faucet off again, cursing quitely and reaching for a towel that he wrapped around himself absentmindedly. 

He stepped out of the tub and dried himself off carefully as he didn’t want to hurt himself more with the burns he barely dared to look at. They hurt less now, which was kind of nice. Eyeing the strange pile of his ripped clothes on the floor, he decided that those could probably go straight to their normal garbage pile, or burned fully, since he couldn’t really care less. His work uniform was more presenting of the place he was in right now mentally than he himself could, and the thought made him smile a little strangely. Perhaps it was Kokichi’s influence that made him see the humor in the strangest of situations, but it could have simply been a part of himself that he hadn’t discovered yet before. 

Shuichi made sure the towel covered him well as he reached the door of the bathroom that led to a small hall where he knew the room he would share with Kokichi would be. His hands pressed against the painted wood, fingertips feeling the cold material, as he stopped himself from opening the door as he heard the voices of Komaeda and Hinata downstairs. The stairs led directly to the open space that was part of their living room, so he was able to hear them speak from there. A bit curiously, he opened the door only a little bit and pressed his ear close to the gap, now hearing what they were saying more clearly. He wasn’t one to listen in on conversations, but since he was fairly sure he heard his own name being said when he was quiet in the first place, he was a bit curious to know what they were talking about. 

‘How is Kokichi?’, Hajime asked his boyfriend as he sat down on the couch, looking at Komaeda that was standing still in the room. While the brunette himself was one to pace around when something bothered him, to annoyance of most around him, Nagito kept himself standing still like an iceberg if he had to. The white haired male looked a bit troubled, but kept it to himself as he gave him a warm smile. ‘Oh, I have cleaned him up and stitched his wound. He will be fine soon, I hope, if trash like me can even-’, he started. Hajime interrupted him though, standing up and grabbing onto his forearm. ‘Nagito, don’t speak like that about yourself. I trust your abilities’, Hinata told him softly, sighing as the white haired luckster looked like he didn’t completely believe this, but he wouldn’t want to speak up about it too much. 

‘Now what’s wrong?’, Hajime asked, tilting his head a bit and trying to keep his boyfriend’s gaze rested on him instead of letting him nervously look through the whole room. ‘Huh? Ah, ha… ha.. you shouldn’t be worried about me’, Komaeda smiled, scratching his neck awkwardly, and earning a huff from the brunette. ‘It wasn’t a question actually. Tell me what’s wrong’, Hinata came with a different approach. Nagito gulped softly, and sat down as well now, allowing himself to. ‘Well. Just… they’re situation reminded me of ours when we had to leave Lavender Kingdom’, the male spoke up, his bony fingers latching onto the average looking boy’s arm.   
  
Hinata smiled as he took place next to his boyfriend, leaning against him a bit and giving a kiss to the unruly white haired head of his. ‘Well, it may be similar experiences, that is true’, he told him, holding his hand carefully and making sure the male was listening. ‘It was hard at first for us, I’m sure that’s what you’re thinking about, huh?’, he asked, his voice softer as Komaeda nodded silently, not really liking to show the worried side of himself. ‘But we managed, didn’t we?’, Hinata hummed, running a hand through the lucky man’s hair like he knew helped him calm down even if he wouldn’t admit it, since he didn’t want to be a bother to his significant other. Of course Hajime was right, but still, the memory of them coming to this place with nothing, absolutely nothing was engraved in his mind as a horrible thing, simply because of the despair he could see in the eyes of his normally so hopeful boyfriend. 

‘Kokichi has Shuichi now, just like I had you, and they’ll help each other live through this’, Hinata told the man that was leaning against him carefully. ‘And they didn’t come towards a place made of nothingness, you know? Just like we had Kaz and Gundham to help us settle, they have us. They’ll be safe, and I’m sure they’ll get used to this type of life sooner or later’, Hinata promised, again kissing the other’s head. Nagito hummed in agreement, smiling a bit. ‘You’re right.. I was worrying for no reason..’, he sighed, cursing himself in his head, even though he knew the brunette hated it when he did this. It was just the mood he was in being brought back to his first experience outside of Lavender Kingdom, and along the way he had learned to disappreciate himself a little less, but at times his old tendencies came up. ‘Of course I’m right, I’m always right’, Hajime joked softly, pinching the male’s skin that chuckled quietly at this. 

Shuichi leaned away from the door, smiling a little bit to himself. They were right. It wasn’t as if he had nothing and nobody. They got out of Lavender Kingdom, but their life wasn’t over. Fate could have more in store for them than that. He was together with Kokichi, someone he trusted more than he probably should, and with these friends of his that seemed to care about him. At least enough to worry for him like that, and Saihara supposed it was a good sign. Their story wasn’t over, of course it wasn’t. They’ll get over this, like Nagito and Hajime got over whatever had troubled them into having to leave the kingdom. Even if he felt like this wasn’t the last he had heard of the kingdom, he could now easily rest with the idea that he didn’t need to worry about leaving a home anymore, as he knew he had found a new one. 

The bluenette left the bathroom, and fairly easily found the bedroom that he and Kokichi would be staying in, since there were only two rooms upstairs which were the bathroom and what he supposed was the bedroom. He opened the door to a cute, small but nice enough room, that sported a bed fitting two persons the very least, although as he took a closer look, he noticed that the exhausted prince had been lain onto it already, and he was now taking up all the space as he was sprawled across the bed. Shuichi smiled fondly seeing his chest rise and fall softly as he apparently was sleeping, indeed cleaned up and hopefully taken care of well. The fact that he would have to share a bed with the prince wasn’t even that shocking anymore; he was just glad that they were able to stay here. 

In the room was as well a drawer, that contained some simple clothing. Shuichi was used to this however so it wasn’t that big of a problem to him. He picked out some simple shirt and loose pants, stretching a bit. It felt homely, and he could smell the soft scent of lavender on both himself and the male that was sleeping in the room right now. Even though he could’ve simply scooted him over and got in bed with Kokichi, to fall asleep like he thought he deserved after such an eventful couple of days, he remembered that Hajime said something about making tea. He couldn’t leave them waiting there without even a short explanation of course, so he stepped away from the closet. Glancing one last time and Ouma’s peaceful expression during his sleep, he left the bedroom behind himself and started to walk down the stairs, the old wooden build creaking and complaining underneath his feet. 

He reached the living room eventually, still being extra careful as he walked simply because of the burns. Even if they didn’t hurt as much as before, he didn’t want them to accidentally get more damaged, so being careful was only logical. Now the scent of lavender had washed away a little bit, to make place for another sweet scent, one that reminded him of that field he used to go to. Komaeda was the only one sitting on the couch in the living room, and he waved at him, as Shuichi could hear Hajime being busy in the small kitchen they owned. ‘Hey, Shuichi… Saihara, right?’, Nagito asked out loud, seeming in thought. Shuichi nodded simply, and this seemed to calm the man down, as if he was glad he had guessed or remembered his name right. 

Because it felt inappropriate to go looking for Hajime when the male was probably busy at the moment, Saihara simply sat down on the chair that was in the room as well, letting himself sink back into it a little bit. Komaeda was watching him, as if he was something very interesting, and he wasn’t saying anything. It wasn’t like the bluenette himself was making a conversation; he was taking in the space around him, after all. Still, the stare of the white haired male was a little bit off putting, so eventually Saihara idd pay actual mind to him. ‘Is… something wrong?’, he asked carefully, folding his hands together as some sort of nervous habit. Nagito blinked. ‘No’, he responded simply. This had brought him nowhere. The creep (he scolded himself mentally for thinking about someone that was willing to bring him into his home like that, but it couldn’t be helped) was still looking at him, and Shuichi was still at a loss of what to do. 

Fortunately for him the door to the kitchen opened and out came Hajime holding a teapot. Komaeda immediately got up from where he was sitting, rushing towards his boyfriend to try and help him in a way, since he believed he shouldn’t be carrying all that for someone like him. At least that was what Shuichi could gather from their small talk. ‘Don’t mind Komaeda, he’s just… interested to know whether you’re a witch as well? Since obviously, you and Kokichi were thought of to be… if that’s not an inappropriate question’, Hinata spoke up after setting down the pot and giving Shuichi a cup, filling it with the warm liquid making him thank him gratefully. Hajime sat down on the couch and Nagito joined him on there, both of them looking at Shuichi a bit expectantly. 

‘Well, I’m not. I just didn’t tell the town that I knew prince Ouma was a witch, since I knew that they’d try to burn him at the stake for that reason. However, this made them suspicious of me’, Shuichi explained shortly, sighing quietly as he let himself sip on the hot beverage, feeling the hot air hit his face pleasantly. This place was less cold than the large castle had been, but with the rain still ticking against the windows, having a cup of thee was kind of nice. ‘So that’s where the scars are from’, Nagito nodded to himself as he put two and two together, since he hadn’t heard the story yet. Shuichi was kind of uncomfortable having heard this, so Hinata nudged him. ‘Let’s not talk about this anymore, it must bring up some nasty memories to Saihara’, he explained. Komaeda apologized excessively even if it wasn’t necessary, and luckily for the bluenette the two of them decided to talk about themselves once he asked what their story is. 

‘Our story, huh…’, Nagito said, thinking for a bit as he leaned his shoulder against the brunette’s. ‘Well… we knew kichi since we were a lot younger, obviously. We had this small group of friends, Kaede, me, Hajime, and some other kids. I think it was the first time that he got outside of the castle and wandered of from his parents that he joined our little clique’, Hajime started the story, looking at the white haired male next to him for confirmation of his story. ‘We didn’t take that long to realise that Kokichi had some type of power inside of him, the hope filled boy’, Nagito said, his voice a little louder than it was before. Considering the eye roll that came from Hajime, those types of sentences obviously left the strange male more often. 

‘The first thing that happened to us was… Nagito’s luck’, Hajime mumbled, scratching his arm. Nagito took his hand, as a reassuring gesture, and even though it seemed like a sad subject, Shuichi couldn’t help but to be curious. ‘Luck?’, he asked, tilting his head as he kept the cup of tea close to his lips, not wanting to miss the aroma but also not wanting to miss the story. Komaeda nodded, and gave a somewhat shameful smile. ‘Ko has a very… particular luck cycle’, Hajime tried to explain, thinking what type of words to use. ‘He is either extremely lucky in a bad or good way. Like last week, he managed to drop to the floor after tripping over something, and he bruised his… well, anyway, at the same time we found out a strange type of bug lived underneath our kitchen counter, and we managed to exterminate it before it would completely take over our place. These types of things will happen to us like… weekly, if not daily, and it has always been that way’, Hinata continued. Shuichi was interested in how that would work, but didn’t comment on it. 

‘Of course, because that meant he was different in an unexplainable way, most kids were scared of Nagito. The group of friends we were in started to get smaller and smaller, until only me, Nagito, Kaede and Kokichi were left. Eventually word got out to parents that Ko was different, and they too advised their kids to stay away from him. It was a hard period of time for the both of us’, the brunette said, no amusement evident in his voice. Shuichi knew the feeling of being despised by your own hometown far too well, so he could only offer his pity. ‘Hajime stayed by my side though, even if it made himself look bad’, Komaeda said, a fond smile towards his significant other that squeezed his hand softly. 

‘Some day though, Nagito and I were rushing away from the older kids that liked to terrorize us now that the hatred towards us was a common thing, and we got inside of an old empty house where no one had lived for a long time for some reason. I didn’t know why, but Ko said it was rumored to be haunted or something like that. We weren’t particularly scared and stayed in there, but things have never been the same after’, Hinata said, his voice getting a bit more strained as he said this, although he didn’t seem sad. It was more that the memory was troubling, but whatever had happened itself not so much. ‘Was the place haunted?’, Saihara asked, now invested in this story, blinking. He could believe that; honestly, he’d seen enough things to believe even the most unbelievable of things. And of course, Hajime nodded. ‘Yeah… it was’. 

‘Do you know anything about… demons?’, Komaeda asked, an amused twinkle in his eyes, which was a little inappropriate for the situation, probably. Shuichi thought for a bit. What did he know about demons? Like every other creature, they were detested, and said to be very dangerous at all times. He had never seen one though, and until quite recently he wouldn’t have believed they existed at all anyway. ‘Only that they take over a body at times. Why do you ask?’. The question was simple, but it seemed as though Hajime was paling a bit, his eyes staring into Shuichi’s as he said this. ‘Do you… want to know?’, he asked. The atmosphere of the place changed a little bit, and Shuichi wasn’t sure why, but it felt colder than before. Despite this, his curious nature got the best of him, and he nodded. 

It was quiet for a moment, nothing other audible than his heartbeat, before his startled gasp changed this fact. Because he saw a flash of red in the eyes of Hinata, before they turned fully red, and his face seemed.. sharper, in a way. Komaeda was looking at him in admiration, which was a little weird as well, but since Shuichi realised the guy was a bit weird overall it wasn’t all that strange. ‘Hello, Shuichi Saihara’, a voice said. It came from Hajime, but it wasn’t exactly his voice. It was, but it was as if he had multiple voices at once, and it was a little fucking creepy if he had to be honest. ‘Wh-what?’, Shuichi asked, blinking as he tried to assess the situation. Demon. A demon. Hajime was a demon? Or was he possessed by a demon? 

‘Izuru, don’t scare him’, Nagito spoke up, poking the man’s cheek. Strangely enough, this way the sharp glare turned into a calmer one, and Shuichi felt as though a weight was lifted off his chest. The redness in Hinata’s eyes weren’t gone, and for some reason his hair seemed longer than before, although that shouldn’t have been possible. ‘...boring’, Izuru responded, sighing quietly as he sat back, and tilted his head at Shuichi. ‘As Hajime was explaining. I joined his body. We came to a compromise, and I’m living just fine in here’, the man, no, demon explained. Shuichi could only look at him, wide eyed, having no words for what was being told to him.

‘You can understand the citizens weren’t that keen on the idea of a demon living among them. That was when hajime and Nagito, so essentially me as well, were chased out of here. The rest he can tell you himself’, Izuru continued, sighing. Eyes rolled back into his head, and he seemed a bit dizzy as his eyes closed tightly and Hajime grabbed onto his head. As he blinked, his eyes were back to his normal color. ‘Thanks, Kamakura’, he grumbled, shaking his head a bit. ‘He doesn’t _have_ to make my head hurt, but he’s butthurt because I didn’t get him his favorite drink in a while’, Hinata explained calmly. He realised how strange it may have sounded since his voice halted for a bit, as he offered a small smile. ‘Anyway. That’s how we ended up here, I suppose’. 

Shuichi nodded, his mind a little slow and in the process of processing the information that had just been dumped on him. At the same time he was tired, awfully tired, and it was a little too much for now. Luckily, Hajime seemed to notice this, as his gaze softened. ‘Maybe you should try and get some sleep. Komaeda will wake you up tomorrow morning for something to eat, alright? Have a good night’, the boy told him, seeing how he had emptied the cup of tea already. Placing the empty cup on a small table in the room, Shuichi nodded. ‘Y-yeah. Thank you’, he replied, a bit unsurely. He wasn’t sure what he expected to hear from them to begin with, but it was much to take in, definitely after the events of this day, so it was better if he simply slept for a little while. 

Shuichi managed to get up the stairs, but as soon as he was in his own room, he felt all the energy he had left being drained. Without thinking too much about it he kicked off his clothes, and scooted Kokichi that was still laying in the bed over a bit, joining him underneath the covers in the dark. His limbs gave out basically, finding comfort in the fact that he finally let himself do what he needed to do, and his body sunk into that nice feeling of relaxation. Yet still, he didn’t close his eyes. He was laying in silence for a little bit, staring at the ceiling above him as he lay on his back and listened to see if he could hear the smaller male snoring, but he didn’t. It was almost a little strange, until a voice spoke up. 

‘mm… Shuichi?’, a tired sounding Ouma spoke. Apparently he was awake, and even though he should probably be sleeping since that would be better for his health, Shuichi was glad to hear he was awake. ‘I’m here’, the aspiring detective responded softly. It stayed quiet for a small moment again, but the he could hear the small ruffling and movement in the bed, as Kokichi scooted over more. His arm was slung over Shuichi’s lower stomach and he rested his head against the male, in a way that made Saihara’s heart flutter in his chest for a moment, as his tired mind didn’t even care to stop him from doing this. 

‘We made it’, Kokichi muttered sleepily into the male, humming softly as he let his eyes close again, and a leg wrapped itself around the other as well, almost as if he tried to cling onto the male for whatever reason. Saihara didn’t mind, though. They had been through enough for them to be able to get this small moment of peace, even if it would inevitably leave them again. That was simply how life was, and he wanted to appreciate the gesture for as long as he could. Ouma was speaking the truth, after all. 

‘Yeah, we did, Kichi’, Shuichi muttered back, running a hand through the purple locks of his hair, hearing the man almost purr in a relieved way. In no time small snores filled the room, and Shuichi smiled a little bit as he held the purplenette a little closer to his body, wishing for this moment to last longer, even though he knew he would eventually fall asleep in the state he was in. Still, he couldn’t help the strange feeling of victory that Kokichi’s words held. ‘...We made it’.


	17. Time to heal

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nagito coughed softly, and ran a hand through his hair, looking at the both of them interact. ‘Pardon me if this sounds very assumptious, but are you two… together?’, he asked, careful in his way of wording things. Shuichi choked on the tea he was drinking, coughing as he did so.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> First of all: omg, I just realised this story has over 4000 hits- that is a m a z i n g and I'm thankful for every reader. 
> 
> Well then, now on another note. A lot is going on in my life rn, so I don't have much time to write anymore. I still try to continue the story of course, but updates can take a lot longer than you're used to. I'm sorry.   
> As a way of making it up to everyone, the relationship of kokichi and shuichi gets... well... tested, perhaps? It's more elaborated on. Shuichi is as confused as I can get myself, basically. 
> 
> Warnings: the usual stuff.

_ Shuichi wasn’t sure at what point he fell asleep, but he was certain that eventually his brain must have given up on keeping him awake and let him doze off in a usual slumber. His body needed the rest, he was well aware, so he didn’t mind this fact. In fact, he decided not to think about it too much as his eyes opened themselves in a dreamland, just like last time he had been asleep, although it was different this time. This time, he strangely enough knew that he was sleeping. He knew that this wasn’t real, whatever his eyes would show him, and instead of it freaking him out, it gave him a feeling of control and calmth. Into the unknown he stepped, not seeing much but light yet. His breathing was normal here, and his skin hurt less. It was a blessing, really. He had heard of lucid dreaming before, but never had he been this self aware during his sleep.  _

_ The light started to feel like soft beams of sunlight dancing on his skin, the warmth and tingling feeling awakening a memory in him of when he used to go outside all the time as a kid simply to feel this sensation whenever his uncle was out of town and he had nothing better to do. He was walking barefooted, he now noticed. His clothes were simple and comfortable, and he felt a little drowsy. Strands of soft grass tickled his sensitive skin, were it not to nastily prick sometimes since it seemed fairly freshly cut. Scents of plants and nature filled his nostrils. It was slightly familiar, really, and he loved the nostalgic feeling of it. But when the scent of soft lavender, mixed with something sweet reached him, he really couldn’t help the small smile that was on his face.  _

_ His eyes adjusted to the light and to the new vision, creating what he already guessed he would see. The royal garden, in all its glory, neatly taken care of by the sweet gardener that was Gonta Gokuhara. Some butterflies had found their way to the bluenette and were curiously flying near him, but never close enough for him to touch them. Small sounds of life were audible, reaching from the village to his ears, reminding him of the everyday life that everyone had to live. It was a peaceful place, the garden, and he loved it. It was a place to escape his duties, that he subconsciously was aware of having. A place to live the best moments of his faint memory of nature during his own younger years. And a place where he wasn’t alone, when he didn’t want to be.  _

_ ‘Morning, love’, a voice that he could recognize from anywhere spoke up behind him. The lavender scent matched his happy, yet somewhat tired tone. Shuichi had the urge to kneel and sit down in the grass, looking at the small flowers that Gonta felt too bad for cutting away, so he did. It felt right, the softness and the small drops of the beginning of dawn that were still present. The voice turned into a small chuckle, the male sitting down next to him. Purple strands of hair entered Shuichi’s vision. He sat back, leaning on his hands and watching Kokichi as he placed down a small tray that held two cups of tea, the heat reaching his skin in a pleasant way because of a small breeze. ‘Good morning, kichi’, he responded simply, taking one of the cups and bringing it to his lips. Still hot, the beverage burned his tongue a little, but he didn’t mind all too much.  _

_ A hand was rested on top of his own, warm skin meeting his and bringing a nice feeling to his chest where his heart was beating happily. ‘ How are you?’, Saihara asked prince Ouma in the softest voice he could muster, knowing that the gardener was probably busy at the moment and he liked to keep their talks at least a little private. Even in this dream, Shuichi knew that other kingdoms had envied their paring. A paring of love, and a strong one at that. This didn’t happen often.  _

_ ‘Oh, I’m feeling a lot better this morning’, Ouma told him, a genuine look on his face telling Shuichi that he wasn't lying. Normally he would have, of course, but just like Shuichi was aware that this was some sort of dream to which some of the information was hidden in his mind, Kokichi was aware that Shuichi was worried about him. Not just about him, also for him. Even if their life was peaceful at the moment, danger or ill could still hurt them like it had hurt them a little while ago. It wasn’t unusual for them to think back about this. Well, scratch that, it wasn’t unusual for  _ Shuichi _ to think back about this. Kokichi would always laugh at this and tell him that everything was fine now, that he shouldn’t worry too much. Shuichi always supposed that he was right, but there was a hint of sadness in his tone. The inevitable couldn’t be changed, just like the past couldn’t be changed. Still, they lived on, they always did.  _

_ ‘But still, something is troubling you’, Shuichi noticed, sitting a little hunched over. Ouma tensed a little as he heard this. Still, in a matter of time their fingers tangled together like they usually would, and the male gave a small squeeze. He wore a calm smile, one that didn’t reach his eyes. ‘Do you want to talk about it?’, the bluenette asked after a moment of silence, blinking at the male that was avoiding his gaze. His eyes were locked on a bush of lavender flowers. He took his own cup of tea, bringing it to his lips as he sipped on it silently. Shuichi knew this silence though. It was a silence that was preparing itself for something serious to come out, and he would give him all the time he needed.  _

_ ‘You’ve gotten better at being observant, huh?’, the prince, the  _ king _ spoke quietly, putting down the warm cup. Some of the drink spilled over his skin. He didn’t even blink at this, only sighed. ‘I don’t want to worry you’, he chuckled then, a humorless chuckle as he ran a hand through his lover’s blue hair. Although Shuichi leaned into the motion, he pulled his hand away to hold it instead, his own cup discarded as well now, looking into the male’s eyes. ‘You will worry me if you do not speak, you know this’, Saihara whispered to him, bringing the hands he was holding to his lips. Although he was uncertain, Ouma seemed grateful for him, and that was everything he could’ve asked of the male. It wasn’t until recently that he was more open towards Shuichi, so he couldn’t ask much more of him.  _

_ ‘This kingdom… it is destined to fall. You know this’, Kokichi muttered after a while, seeming a little tense. He moved to sit on his knees instead, which made him a bit taller than Shuichi in contrast, a strange yet familiar sight to the male. ‘I have made peace with this, and I know you have as well’, the purplenette continued. He let go of the hands of his lover, who sat back and watched him with interest and concern. The buzzing of insects was only a background noise as he couldn’t help but to drown into the voice of Ouma, no matter what type of subject they may have been discussing. Clouds moved in front of the sun and he felt a shiver run down his spine as he was only in nightwear outside, but he ignored it. ‘But what about our people? There is no way we can abandon them, not like this’.  _

_ Shuichi smiled a little, leaning forward and taking Ouma’s cheeks in his hands. He was having a hard time reminding himself that this was in fact a dream, as he felt himself being pulled into the story as if he belonged in it, as if it was a part of him. ‘I remember you saying before, that you don’t owe any of these people anything’, Saihara said with a small chuckle, pressing a kiss to the forehead of the purple haired king. He indeed started to remember something like that, a dream memory that made sense to him only right now. ‘That… was a different time’, Kokichi responded bashfully, looking down at his lap. He was right, of course, but since Shuichi didn’t get to tease his lover very often, he took pride in it whenever he really could.  _

_ ‘We have talked about this before, kichi. Everyone is well aware that the kingdom will fall when we do, that’s why we made bondings with the land, remember?’, Saihara hummed. Ouma shrugged, looking off in the distance. He wasn’t certain about all of this, he never had been. ‘I know. You tell me this, all the time. I’m just worried, is all’, the purplenette told him with a small sigh. He scooted closer, and leaned against the former servant that reached an arm to fit around him caringly. ‘I know you are. But we’re young, ko. There is no need to worry yet, like you tell me all the time’, Shuichi teased softly as he kissed his head. Luckily the male let out a small snicker at this. ‘But you worry about the most stupid of things, it’s different’, Ouma said, booping his nose as his cheeks turned a little red at the mockery and he huffed unhappily, only to be laughed at by the male himself.  _

_ ‘Things will turn out fine, they’ll work out. You’ll see’, Shuichi heard himself say as at last a darkness was pulling onto his consciousness, grabbing a hold of him and tearing him out of this state in a strangely careful way.  _

Shuichi opened his eyes, blinking softly as he tried to get used to the lack of light in the room. An arm was thrown over his body and lay there restlessly, two purple eyes looking up into his from where he was laying. ‘Morning, Saihara-chan!’, Kokichi said cheerfully, although a hint of the exhaustion he felt himself was audible. ‘Good morning, prince Ouma’, he hummed in response, tiredly letting a hand run through his hair. He could remember the feeling of the dream, and it mixed with his own mind at the moment. Not that he minded it. It felt soft, and familiar. He enjoyed it. 

‘You don’t have to keep calling me prince Ouma, you know’, Ouma huffed as he sat up a bit, leaning over Shuichi as the male groaned quietly when he placed his leg on his lower stomach, giggling softly at this. ‘Well, I could just call you an asshole as well, that would work’, Saihara responded as he was grumpy about the fact that his peaceful sleep was broken like this by reality. Kokichi gasped dramatically, leaning a hand down and pinching the male’s cheek, making Shuichi huff as he tried to swat at his hand to get it away. ‘You do need to learn some manners, bad shumai’, Kokichi sighed in a voice that made him seem more like a concerned mother. Without thinking about it, Shuichi reached his arms up as he pulled the male down to lay on his chest instead. ‘Shut up, and let me sleep a little longer’, he muttered. 

The purple haired prince was a bit silent for a second at that, and strangely enough Shuichi could feel a soft heat reaching his chest from the other male’s skin. Saihara started to wake up a little more though, feeling how his heart beat in his chest. ‘How are you feeling?’, he eventually asked, a small sense of deja vu reaching him, although he ignored it. Kokichi looked up, his face rather close to Shuichi’s. They didn’t mention this. ‘Aww, is Saihara-chan worried about me? How cute!’, he grinned. The bluenette could tell that this was a way for him to get out of having to be serious for a bit, so he only stared him down, hoping he got the message. Kokichi huffed, understanding and folding his arms together to lay on them, still looking at the former servant. ‘Fine, my stomach hurts. But so does my heart. You wounded me, Shu’, he sighed, blinking away a fake tear. 

‘Do you want to get up?’, Shuichi asked carefully. The male’s eyes met his again, and a small smile was on his lips. It was more genuine than before. He felt warm, holding the prince against his chest like this. Still, Ouma slid his legs to fit next to Shuichi’s sides and he sat up a bit, the covers sliding down from him a little. He was silent, strangely enough. Now Shuichi could notice the rain outside had stopped, since nothing but their breaths was audible, and some rummaging downstairs that they didn’t focus on. 

They had gone through quite a lot together in a small amount of time, Shuichi realised. He’d immediately felt a strange type of liking towards the other, even if it only used to be curiosity. Learning how to deal with him and how he actually worked, how much he thought about the things he did and how much thought went into his plans, it was fascinating. Even if the outcome was something silly, he treated everything like it was a masterplan and at the same time he disregarded things as though they were insignificant. How Kokichi’s brain was wired, Saihara may never know, and it was interesting. He was different, so much different from anyone he had ever met before. Not in a bad way, he realised. He was interesting, and he held a strange type of warmth that Shuichi couldn’t help but to be intrigued by. 

‘What if I don’t?’, Kokichi asked, tilting his head a bit. His tone was both teasing and questioning. It was a tricky question. Whatever Shuichi would say, it could change things forever, he knew this. So he had to do this the right way, but the time to think about his response was limited. Ouma was smart, he would know something was up. The thing was, Saihara wasn’t even sure what he wanted himself, although he did know he wouldn’t mind it if they would stay in bed like this. He was no longer Kokichi’s servant, he realised. There was no one to tell them that what they were doing wasn’t okay, or inappropriate, but himself. The thought made his cheeks redden a little, and Kokichi watched him with interest, although he didn’t say anything about it. He felt a strange tension, but it wasn’t necessarily a bad one. They had all the time in the world, for once. 

‘...What if you don’t…?’, Shuichi decided on saying, basically repeating what the purple haired male had said before. A hand was placed on his chest, feeling his heartbeat. Kokichi looked fairly smug, as if he knew exactly what was going on, even though Shuichi himself didn’t, or at least tried not to. He would’ve loved for Kokichi to explain all of this to him, but at the same time he didn’t mind the secrecy. It was barely morning but he could already feel more awake without having to taste something to get his stomach and mind going. He was trapped underneath the former prince, and strangely enough, he couldn’t say he minded at all. He didn’t need to know what was really going on, at least he felt like he didn’t. 

‘That’s a.. peculiar question, Saihara-chan’, Kokichi noticed, with a small chuckle. A hand reached up and cupped his cheek, feeling the red and hot skin underneath it. He cooed almost mockingly as he did this. It wasn’t unusual to see Ouma like this, even though he must have been more tired than he showed. There were small bags under his eyes, and he looked a bit more pale than usual, but still, he radiated a warmth that Shuichi couldn’t quite explain. ‘It almost sounds like you don’t know what you want’, the purplenette continued, his eyes sharp as he seemed to take in every sign that Shuichi was giving him, and it was confusing him a bit. That was fine. Shuichi felt like he was confusing himself as well. And Ouma couldn’t be more true. In the back of his mind, he knew exactly what this tension was and he knew exactly how to respond to it, but for some reason it simply didn’t dawn on him. 

‘I thought you didn’t care about how I felt’, the bluenette responded, his voice small. That was a lie, he knew it was a lie. Even if Kokichi never outright said it, he definitely did care at least the littlest bit about his servant. He could have disregarded him long ago, but he didn’t. Kokichi snorted, and his face reached closer to Shuichi’s, until their noses were touching. ‘You’re a bad liar, shuu-chan’, the prince commented, smirking a little bit. Their breaths mingled, and Saihara didn’t know if this was concerning or exciting. Perhaps a mixture of both. He wanted to reach out to the purplenette, like the male had done to him, and it was a strange sensation. Definitely when his face inched closer. 

Until it stopped, with a small ‘Saihara-chan… why are you crying?’. 

Shuichi blinked softly, reaching up a careful hand to touch his cheeks. Kokichi wasn’t lying. They were wet, and as he blinked he could feel more of the salty water roll onto his skin. Ouma still had his cheek cupped, and managed to wipe some of the tears away with his thumb. He seemed a bit worried, an expression that had quite the trouble to stay on his face as the boy was feeling his natural urge to hide his feelings. Things were different with Shuichi though. ‘I-I’m not sure’, the blunette responded, his voice soft and vulnerable now he listened to it well. Quivering, awful. He wasn’t sure, why was he crying? Everything had been a lot to take in lately, so perhaps something like this was just what tipped him over the edge to let his frustration leave him through his eyes. ‘I-I’m sorry’, Shuichi chuckled awkwardly as he tried to dry his eyes, wiping harder at them now. He had ruined the moment, and it made him insanely grumpy at himself. 

‘Don’t be sorry for crying, like I said. I won’t judge you for being a crybaby, shu’, Kokichi said with a small smile, managing to jab at him in a somewhat sweet way. ‘Let’s just get up and go about our day now, alright?’. The prince seemed to know more about him than the bluenette did himself, and although it was scary, it was also quite nice. He didn’t seem to have to explain why everything was overwhelming at this point; Ouma understood, or at least didn’t judge him for it. Not for real, anyway. He wouldn’t pass on the opportunity to mock Shuichi for anything and everything, of course. Shuichi nodded in response, getting up from the bed like Kokichi did, and going over to the closet. It didn’t take long for him to throw on some large shirt and some pants, not really caring how he was looking at the moment. 

‘...Do you need some help?’, Shuichi asked with a small chuckle as he saw Kokichi struggling with his pants, a snarl leaving the boy. He was frantically pulling onto the ends of the trousers but they simply didn’t want to sit right, and he had a limited reach because of the wound in his side that still hurt. ‘You’re really fucking funny, Saihara’, Kokichi grumbled, a strangled groan leaving him as he tried to hop up to pull the pants up fully, which resulted into him falling onto the bed with a small oomph. Shuichi couldn’t help the small giggle that escaped him, definitely when Ouma gave him the finger. ‘Take your time’, he teased, seeing the normally calm expression of the trickster flinch a bit into a more nasty look. 

After a small while of a battle with the article of clothing, Kokichi let himself fall back fully as his arms were spread, taking up most of the bed. ‘Fine, I give up’, he exclaimed, rolling his head to the side to look at Shuichi. ‘Oh powerful and wise Shuichi. Can you please pull up my pants’. Shuichi snorted quietly at this as his face was a little red, and he shook his head in disappointment, although he did approach the male. ‘Since you asked so nicely, I will, Ouma-kun’, he responded, reaching over him and telling him to sit up a bit. He pulled it up to fit over his sides, and was just zipping it up as Kokichi’s leg moved and kicked him in his own. ‘What was that for?’, Shuichi asked with a frown, folding his arms. Ouma smirked at him, shrugging a bit. He clearly saw the act as some type of rebelling, and although it was stupid, it was a little funny to the bluenette, so he just sighed with a small smile. He was a total goner, he realised. 

‘Do I need to carry you down the stairs?’, Saihara asked as they walked to the hall, and he was nudged in the side for this. ‘I needed your help once, don’t let it get to your head’, Kokichi grumbled, speeding up his pace a bit so he could be the first to walk down the stairs. He had a small limp to his walk which was probably to prevent any more pain for himself, so walking down those steps took longer than usual, and Shuichi didn’t mind all too much. He could simply walk behind the other like he usually did anyway. 

In their sight appeared the white haired male Komaeda, that smiled a bit as he saw them. ‘I was just about to call you both downstairs to say that breakfast was ready. It must be my luck’, the male said with a soft chuckle, scratching his neck a bit embarrassedly, although there was no reason for him to be. Shuichi noticed that the small hops of Kokichi trying to get down the stairs sped up in pace just a little, and he could only see the wide eyes of shock on Nagito as suddenly the purplenette jumped up a bit and basically sprung right onto the white haired luckster. ‘Koko!’, The prince basically cried out happily as he hugged the man that still seemed a little bit startled at the sudden embrace, although he did return it. ‘Hey, kichi. Glad to see that you’re… up and going again, haha’, Nagito responded, running a hand through his hair swiftly. Ouma stepped back and gave him a grand smile, before his expression turned blank again. ‘What’s for breakfast?’. 

Nagito seemed like he was used to his antics as he didn’t react to the change in mood soon, and told the both of them to follow them so they could see for themselves. Kokichi was happily walking next to Shuichi, and he felt him reaching for his hand. ‘I didn’t know you were the big-hug type of guy’, the bluenette muttered to him as they followed Nagito into a room. Kokichi smirked a bit, humming some type of melody as he looked forward. ‘I’m not’, he responded simply, holding up his hand… and showing a leather wallet. Shuichi’s eyes widened as he stared at him for a bit, before trying to reach for it. ‘You- you picked his pocket?!’, he whisper yelled, hearing the soft snicker that this resulted in for the prince. ‘Don’t worry, he’s a lucky bastard. He’ll get it back eventually’, Ouma muttered, blinking with an amused twinkle in his eyes. ‘Besides, this isn’t the first time I stole his wallet. He’s used to it’. 

Shuichi shook his head a bit, trying to come to a logical conclusion about all this, but he supposed there was none. What type of friend picks your pocket, even though they can get literally anything they want if they simply asked for it? And yet, he saw how Komaeda glanced over his shoulder with knowledge in his eyes, and a small smile. Ouma was just the kind of person that could get away with anything if he was with the right person. Strangely enough, this thought made Shuichi smile a little bit. He could maybe understand it, in a way. Whatever Kokichi had said to him before in a teasing or mocking mood, it all didn’t matter too much to him. Kokichi was still Kokichi. An enchanting, beautiful and intelligent person that showed his loyalty not through words but through actions. The thought was a little scary, but Shuichi let himself think about it anyway. 

The smell of eggs invaded his nostrils, and he stepped aside to see that a dining table had been made for the four of them to eat. Hajime’s eyes were red as he held up a cup of some kind, and Shuichi realised he should probably say Izuru, but he still needed some time to get used to that. ‘Kamakura! Buddy!’, Kokichi cheered as he rushed over to him with a grin, malice in his tone. The guy blinked, and groaned. ‘Hinata, he’s yours to deal with’, the demon said simply, before with a blink his eye color had turned back to their usual tone. Kokichi’s shoulders slumped down. ‘He always does that when I’m around!’, he complained childishly. ‘Maybe that’s because of you’, Hajime responded simply, pushing his chair back as Kokichi started to let thick tears drop down his cheeks, wailing about the other being mean. Hinata chose to ignore this, getting up from his seat. He smiled as he turned towards Shuichi. ‘Would you like some tea?’, he asked simply, holding up a cup himself. 

‘Yes please!’, Kokichi answered before he could, flopping down on the chair that was next to the brunette’s, and toying with it. ‘Three sugars, pretty please’, the boy continued, his voice higher pitched than before as he said this. Hajime huffed as he walked over to the tea pot, and shook his head. ‘You are not getting three. Two, at most’, Hinata said to him in a stern voice to which the purplenette of course complained. Then he turned to the white haired male. ‘So, how have things been for the both of you?’. As Ouma asked this his voice was more soft than before, less dramatic. Shuichi realised he was probably genuinely interested in the answer, and it only showed that they indeed were friends. Usually Kokichi couldn’t really care much for anyone’s backstory if it didn’t concern him. 

Nagito smiled a little as he looked at the back of Hajime’s head who was still filling cups with the hot beverage. Kokichi started to gulp down his food already without waiting for the others to arrive, and considering that no one told him not to, it was probably an expected thing from him. ‘Well, lately they have been fine. Some seasons are better than others, of course. We have made some friends that have left the kingdom as well though, and that also makes life easier’, Komaeda told them, tapping his foot. He seemed to be a patient man in appearance, but was a little more impatient in nature. ‘Well, no offense, but I never expected you two to survive out here for longer than a month! Wow!’, Kokichi cheered, with a mouth full of food. Although it made Shuichi shake his head a bit with a small sigh, Hajime shot him a sharp glare from where he was standing as if he was the boy’s mother, and Ouma gave him an angelic smile in return. 

‘Well, we wouldn’t have made it without the help of our friends. And without your help, of course’, Hinata told him gratefully, placing two cups of tea on the table near Kokichi and near Shuichi. As Shuichi thanked him, he tilted his head a bit. ‘Ouma’s help?’, he asked slowly, not sure where his place in this conversation was, but the three of them didn’t seem to mind much. Still, Kokichi kept quiet as he simply kept on eating, and didn’t look at Saihara. Now the others started to eat as well, and Shuichi dared to touch his plate. The eggs were nice, definitely. ‘Well, you see. Kokichi has sent some servants with products to our place at times, which was nice of him to do. It’s sad that he never got to go out of the kingdom himself’, Hajime sighed softly. Shuichi saw that the purplenette tensed up a little bit, and he could only guess why. 

‘Ouma-kun, you weren’t allowed out of the kingdom?’, the aspiring detective asked, blinking as he watched the male shrug a bit. ‘Nah. They didn’t want me to run away or some bullcrap like that’, Kokichi rolled his eyes, reaching over the table to grab Hinata’s plate, although the male figured he would do something like that and pulled it back. Ouma grumbled and leaned on his elbows instead, head in his hands on the table. ‘...Were their concerns logical?’, Shuichi asked carefully, inspecting his reaction. His face was as blank as it could be. After all, Saihara had never really asked Ouma what he thought about being an actual prince. He had always simply assumed that he would love to rule the land one day, and everyone that belonged to it. But perhaps he didn’t. Maybe those assumptions had been completely wrong, and he didn’t understand Ouma as well as he liked to think he did. ‘A little’, Kokichi replied simply, not planning on elaborating. Shuichi decided that was perhaps a story for another time to listen to. 

‘Anyway’, Komaeda spoke up after they had gone silent for a bit, breaking the small tension that was now in the room. ‘In the forest is where we met Souda and Tanaka, I think they would be interesting to speak to for you both some time’, the white haired male said, looking at Hajime that nodded in agreement. ‘Yeah. Since the both of you are going to stay here now, perhaps you could help us out a bit once you’ve healed? The two of them own a small mill and that’s where we get our flour from, it would be nice to have someone extra to carry it’. It seemed like a fair quest, since the both of them were going to stay there after all, which may have caused the small family some trouble. ‘Oh, so you’re gonna bribe the injured into doing your chores now?’, Kokichi asked with a fake frown, leaning forward. ‘Not cool, mister Hinata!’. 

‘So’, Hinata started, smiling a bit strangely. He completely ignored Ouma, which he kind of deserved. ‘Tell me a bit about the both of you. I haven’t seen Saihara before’, he continued, gesturing somewhat towards the bluenette, before sipping his tea. Shuichi wanted to speak up and tell the tale, although the fact that Kokichi picked up his cup of tea and started to drink it caught him off guard. ‘I thought you didn’t like tea?’, he asked, a little confused as he looked at the male, that just gave him an innocent look. ‘Huh?’, the purplenette hummed as if he was shocked by this revelation. ‘Wow! You do think a lot of silly things huh, shumai?’, he giggled afterwards, kicking his legs underneath the table as he continued to sip on the liquid happily. ‘But you never drink the tea anyone at the castle makes you…’, Shuichi muttered with a frown as he was trying to see the logic in this, being unable to do so. Ouma made a face in response as though it should be obvious. ‘Well, duh! No one at the castle knows how to make tea properly. Way too much sugar! They act like I enjoy having my teeth rot’, the former prince complained with a huff, his expression mockingly angry. 

That definitely helped Shuichi to be speechless for a moment, simply to think if what Kokichi just said was really the thing he just said. Nagito coughed softly, and ran a hand through his hair, looking at the both of them interact. ‘Pardon me if this sounds very assumptious, but are you two… together?’, he asked, careful in his way of wording things. Shuichi choked on the tea he was drinking, coughing as he did so. Kokichi had only a brow raised for a moment, before he put down his cup and smiled brightly. ‘Wow! How could you have guessed, mister Luck?!’, he called out happily, leaning backwards in his chair. Hajime tried to scold him for this, but he wasn’t exactly listening as the front two legs of the chair were lifted up a bit, and he was balancing himself against the table with his own legs so he wouldn’t fall. 

Shuichi’s eyes only widened more as he coughed more, keeping his fist in front of his lips and seeing how Hajime was looking at him in a bit of concern and amusement. Of course, of course Kokichi would just go with it. Nagito apparently didn’t realise this was a lie yet, and gave them a small nod. ‘I’m happy for you, you seem like you would form a hopeful bond!’, he said, clasping his hands together. Shuichi tried to shake his head to give him a hint, but he felt Kokichi’s eyes on him, a big amusement and mischief painted on his face. ‘Of course we are! It was love at first sight, you know!’, Ouma chirped happily, clapping his hands together as well. ‘He  _ just _ walked into the castle, and was already all over me! Of course, me being the generous prince I am, I allowed it’, he waved it off, smirking at the red tint that was forming on the embarrassed bluenette’s cheeks. He tried to calm himself down as he shook his hands defensively, and heard the purple haired prince giggle softly. ‘Aww, it’s alright shumai! It’s not like they didn’t know you’re that quick!’. ‘Are you alright?’, Hinata asked a little carefully as he picked up a napkin and gave it to Saihara, who was still coughing and feeling embarrassed about these lies being spread about him. ‘Ah, he’ll be fine!’, Kokichi said, an innocent look forced upon his normally mischievous face. ‘He’s had worse things stuck in his throat, if you catch my drift’.   
  
At this Shuichi slammed his hand down on the table with a tomato red face, hearing the laugh that came from the prince. He could see that the other two were also a little red in the face, which of course they should be at something like that. ‘K-Kokichi’, Shuichi managed to cough out as he gasped for breath, leaning over the table a little bit. ‘Don’t talk too much with a sore throat, we’ve been through this before’, Ouma waved him off with a sigh and a swift movement of the hand. Shuichi again made his hand reach the table, and this time Ouma moved back a bit, which caused his chair to fall over. ‘Ouch! What was that for!’, the smaller male complained like he was the victim in this, and Shuichi finally stopped his coughing. ‘A-asshole’, he said as he tried to calm his breathing, wheezing a little. Now it seemed like Nagito and Hajime were starting to catch on to the fact that it had been a lie, to which the aspiring detective was fairly glad. 

‘How dare my beloved hurt me when I’m injured’, Kokichi continued to whine. Although that was kind of true, he was in fact injured, Shuichi couldn’t help but to feel a little bit of victory at the fact that he got back at the other boy basically. ‘Y-you asked for it’, he replied. Hajime smiled at him, and nodded. ‘You know what, I like this one’, he said, winking at Saihara a bit. Kokichi pouted and started to wail childishly. ‘You’re all so mean! At least Nagito is on my side, but as my third husband, you should be as well, Shumai’, Ouma continued, making no attempts to get up at all. ‘Who were the first two husbands?’, Nagito asked curiously, making Hajime shake his head as he rested it on his hand tiredly, muttering something about that the luckster shouldn’t fuel his lies and stupid actions like this all the time. ‘Well, duh! Hope and Lucky of course!’, Ouma spoke as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. 

At the call of their names, two cats curiously entered the room. Hinata’s eyes widened as he tried to stop them. ‘Hey, they’re not allowed in the dining room, they’re going to try and get on the table!’, he whined softly, picking up Lucky, but Hope was too quick for him. He rushed to Kokichi’s side, jumping on top of him, and licking his face, making the male giggle softly as he petted the cat. ‘Yeah, I mist you too, buddy!’, he sighed softly, nuzzling with the cat. It was a strange sight, definitely with the guy laying down with his chair like that, but it made Shuichi snicker softly. ‘I noticed that you kept the door shut on those poor fellas, Hajime. It was a little cruel’, Ouma mumbled, scratching the cat behind his ear as he nuzzled him happily, ignoring how Hinata scolded him for doing something he wasn’t supposed to. 

Shuichi bit his lip as he rested his head on his hands. He wondered how Destiny was doing. Since they weren’t there anymore, he still hoped someone chose to take care of the poor cat. This moment of silence for himself was broken soon though, as Hajime let go of the cat he was holding, and watched Lucky also join Hope playing with the purple haired male. They seemed to have missed him just as much as Kokichi missed them. Nagito smiled a bit as he saw Shuichi watch them and the prince. ‘Ouma’s really a cat person, huh?’. The bluenette of course gathered this already, although he didn’t expect the former prince to be so affectionate towards animals. He never really was towards humans, at least not for real. Maybe in a way to mock them. 

‘Can someone help me wash these plates?’, Hajime asked, since no one was really talking. Kokichi was too busy playing with the cats, and Nagito was silently sitting as he didn’t feel like wasting anyone’s time by speaking. Both the white haired male and Shuichi immediately got up to help, as Ouma ignored the request and kept on talking to the two cats in a soft voice. As Shuichi got up quickly though, he started to see spots in his eyes, and his legs felt weak as he gripped onto the table swiftly. ‘Oh- are you alright?’, Komaeda asked as he saw this, and this caught the attention of both the prince and Hinata. ‘Maybe we didn’t let you rest enough, sorry’, Hajime apologised quickly, getting to Shuichi’s side. Ouma also let the cats get off of him as he stood up with a little difficulty since he was still injured, and he looked at them with a blank expression. 

Shuichi shook his head a bit with an embarrassed chuckle. ‘No, no, sorry, I’ll be fine’, he quickly pushed the tiredness off, since he didn’t want to be that much of a bother. The change and the events were still tiring him out, but he didn’t exactly want to comment on it. Not after how much Nagito and Hajime were doing for them. Kokichi spoke up however, placing a hand on his shoulder pretty subtly. ‘Well, I’m tired, so Saihara-chan probably is as well. I’ll kidnap him away from any physical labor’, the former prince said, smiling a bit. ‘I would be bored having to stay in all by myself, so at least I’ll have my beloved to bully!’. Both Nagito and Hajime told them this was fine, as they could see what Ouma’s true meaning behind this was. Saihara himself shut up though, being dragged away by Ouma basically. 

As they walked up the stairs and the silence granted a moment for Saihara to take the boy in. He was grabbing onto his wrist in a somewhat possesive way as he silently pulled onto the limb for the bluenette to follow him, which he did wordlessly. So now and then he could catch a bit of the lavender scent that hung around him, and it was more calming than anything else he knew. But what he was mostly stuck in his head for, was the words he had used. Sure, he had joked about them being together before. He had made vulgar jokes, and yeah, they embarrassed the aspiring detective. It was meant to tease him, all of it was, so why did he only now confuse things? Because of that word that he used? That strange nickname he didn’t remember hearing him say ever before? Maybe Shuichi was just tired, that was all there was to it. Everything was changing and everything was going so fast for his brain to handle. He shouldn’t right now listen to those thoughts that had been in the back of his head quite a while already, simply because he was shaken up and making more space for whatever to enter his mind. 

Still, he couldn’t help but to ask. ‘Ouma-kun… is there a particular reason why you… called me… beloved?’, he asked after clearing his throat. Kokichi didn’t meet his gaze as they arrived at their room, opening the door and dragging Shuichi into it behind him. After a moment though, he put on a small smile before turning to the bluenette. ‘Huh? Are you worried about that, Shumai?’, he asked, throwing his hands up to cup his neck carelessly. Shuichi gulped quietly in response, shrugging. ‘Not.. worried. Not like that, anyway! Just. Surprised, I think’, he said, blinking to himself, as he let himself sit down on the bed that they shared. His mind was teasing him for the fact that they shared a bed now, and he shook his head as if to rid himself of those ridiculous thoughts. They had shared a bed before. That wasn’t weird. What had changed now?  _ Nothing did change, _ he thought _. You’re just actually thinking about it now. You let yourself get into it too much, and now you suffer the consequences of your conscience.  _

‘Well, Saihara-chan’, Kokichi said with a smirk, as he took place on the other side of the bed, basically mocking Shuichi and how he was sitting. ‘Sometimes people do things without a reason, don’t you think? And if there was a reason, would that be so bad?’, he asked, raising a brow as he was looking at the boy. It was a calculated question, and it kind of caught the former servant off guard. He scratched his neck sheepishly, looking away from the other. He didn’t think he could handle looking into those purple eyes of his for too long, for it would make more questions raise to his head. Now that he allowed himself to question the things he had been feeling, questions ran through his mind that he would rather ignore. 

‘After all… what is the worst that could happen, if you recognized the reason?’, Kokichi spoke up again, his tone a bit softer than before. Shuichi strangely enough felt the presence of a hand near his own, and as he looked, he noticed that Kokichi’s hand rested fairly close to his own on the bed indeed. Did he know what he was talking about? Did he know what Shuichi was thinking about? He seemed to know an awful lot after all, and it was a little unfair to the servant that he couldn’t know himself what was going on in Ouma’s head. The male worked in complicated ways, and that made everything… well,  _ complicated _ . What was the worst that could happen, if he let himself think about things like sweet nicknames of beloved, hidden meaning behind vulgar jokes and covered worries by nasty comments. Well. He could be wrong. He could be completely wrong, about everything. The thought of having feelings towards the prince, was something that made his body tense up. Why didn’t he think about it before? But at the same time, why did he think about it right now? He would’ve known, obviously. Even if it felt inappropriate in his line of work. He had taken everything he felt for granted, but now that he stopped to check what exactly was going on in his own heart, he wished he could keep it closed off from himself. He was just confused, that was all. 

Shuichi pulled his own hand back and placed it on his lap, ignoring how Kokichi’s face returned to its blank state. ‘Well, I think I’m just confusing things. There is no reason. I’m sorry for starting about it’, he simply said, blinking as he looked ahead. ‘We should probably rest’, he followed this with, giving himself a small nod. His hands found themselves as he nervously played with his fingers. This felt wrong, but he supposed he had to feel wrong for a bit to end up right. Kokichi was playing with him. Teasing him. He was pulling a prank on him, like he always did. Nothing had changed. Everything was so much, and he just needed some rest. Time to think about stuff like this would come later. When he wasn’t drunk on exhaustion, he would probably be able to rationalize his own way of thinking. 

‘Are you scared, Saihara-chan?’, Kokichi guessed. His voice was lower than before. ‘Of what?’, Shuichi responded, kicking off the clothes he had been wearing and wordlessly getting back in bed. It was indeed nice to lay down again. His limbs were still complaining for him to take a rest. Kokichi sighed quietly, looking over the male with a tilted head. ‘Maybe that wasn’t the right question. Do you trust me?’. 

Shuichi turned to him, looking at his face. That pale, porcelain and betraying face that could forge on emotions swifter than anyone else. The sharp and small nose, the eyes with nice lashes that betrayed his genuine moments at times, painted a beautiful purple just like his hair was. Wild hairs, sticking out and bouncing as chaotic as his personality. ‘Of course. I trust you’, Shuichi responded, his voice small, and he blinked. ‘I’m… a lot has happened to us in a short amount of time. I need some time to settle into a new rhythm, is all’, he added carefully, again avoiding his gaze. Maybe it wasn’t fair to him, but it couldn’t be fair to Shuichi himself, either. 

‘Take your time’, Ouma responded, getting in the bed as well. His voice seemed genuine if not emotionless, which was interesting. ‘You can figure it out. You always will. You’re the detective’, Kokichi chuckled softly, not much humor evident in the laugh. It seemed like they were talking about the exact same thing that was going on in Shuichi’s brain, but he decided not to acknowledge it for now. No, he didn’t need to. He could simply sleep, rest with Kokichi, without making things complicated. That was what they needed after all. Some time to heal. Special things, things that could again throw their life around in many ways, would come afterwards. And it seemed as though Ouma understood this sentiment, because he did scoot closer to Shuichi without another word about it.   
  
And of course, Shuichi welcomed him into his arms. It was the least he could do. Not like he didn’t want to, anyway, but that thought was ignored like most of the others were. He had known for a while, so why he minded this right now was a question to him just as much as it was a question to prince Ouma. Kokichi wasn’t planning on pressuring him into understanding anything though. All was in his own time. Time to heal was more important than chasing his own ideas, to the purplenette, even if he wouldn’t say it out loud. Time to heal mentally and physically. Then he would finally get to push Shuichi into the right direction, with no restraints of their work and their conscience. It would be beautiful, and even if it was thought out by fate all along, Kokichi for once didn’t mind playing by the rules. 


	18. Winter Time changes Hearts

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I meant exactly what I said. Shuichi, in what way do you think about me?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: (warning is important this time!!!)
> 
> So, here I am with the fashionally late updates. My school will start again monday so I'll have even less time to update, sorry again for that. I'm gonna try not to give up on the story though, since I kind of have an idea where to take it next. 
> 
> Warning: implied sexual content (at the end, it is only implied, no actual details since this is a sfw account).
> 
> It may feel like kind of a trainwreck now, I'm sorry that the niveau of writing and story telling is getting worse.

Autumn had passed almost as soon as Shuichi had felt it arrive, and in no way shape or form did he necessarily mind this fact. Winter had to be his favorite season after all, because of several reasons. Even back when he used to live in his old hometown where people hated him, something about wintertime made them a little less harsh against him, and he absolutely loved it. It was one of the most cruel times, sure. Food was harder to get, and it was cold inside and outside of home. But at the same time it was one of the most loveable times. It was the season were people got together to help each other be more comfortable and to spread a certain warmth. It was the season were they celebrated simply being alive and being able to get through the harsh change of weather. It was the season of love, the season of family. His family had never been that great to him, but together with Kiibo and his girlfriend Iruma winter had been one of the most enjoyable moments in his life. They had an excuse not to work out too much, and instead stay inside with a warm cup of tea as they watched snowflakes littering across town, the sky getting darker and little lights of life gleaming throughout the village. 

Secretly, Shuichi had already thought about what winter would be like at the castle of Lavender Kingdom back when he used to be a servant there. He had never asked any other servant about this, since he really wanted it to be a surprise to him. He wouldn’t be surprised if the castle was going to be decorated beautifully to keep bad spirits out. Hearths would be lit to keep all the residents inside of the palace warm, he would get to see how the kingdom functioned with this cold weather. Would there be special feasts, like his town had? Were there certain customaries that he had to mind, was there another type of culture he could enjoy? All these thoughts had made him most excited to see what would happen to his stay there, but unfortunately, this was short lived as he now wasn’t able to return to the kingdom anymore. 

Still, that didn’t mean that where he lived right now, up in the mountains in a no man’s land, things weren’t quite interesting either. It seemed as though winter wasn’t exactly a big deal to Kokichi himself, but Nagito and Hajime had quite the talks about it. Most of their time Shuichi and Kokichi had spent together at this point, needing to regenerate basically. They played card games together, which the prince usually won because he had a much better poker face than Shuichi did, and they stayed in bed a bit. The wounds that had been carved into the bluenette’s skin were healing more and more, and now he could only see a hint of where his flesh was a little more pink than usual, as the burn wounds were getting treated very well inside of the place. It was a mystery why Nagito and Hajime knew so much about aid, but Shuichi supposed he would figure that out eventually. Getting healed was more important than solving all mysteries, as Ouma had told him before when he voiced these worries. 

Ouma did not seem to mind their recent predicament at all. He was a little brighter than back at the castle, and it was an interesting thing to see for Shuichi. It was as if the person that he knew had a different version of himself, one that let go of his worries and duties more, and instead did only what he deemed useful. Which wasn’t a lot. He loved being able to order Shuichi around, even if the bluenette would complain about no longer being a servant, whenever Komaeda and Hinata were out there to take care of things for the small house they lived in. Kokichi managed to live through the days just fine even with his injuries, spending most of his time talking Shuichi’s ears off, playing games with him or demanding Shuichi to bring the cats upstairs to their room even if they weren’t necessarily allowed to be there. 

Even if he needed his rest, Shuichi started to do a bit of work inside of the house whenever Komaeda and Hinata would be gone. He felt bad simply taking advantage of the fact that the both of them were nice enough to give them a room to sleep in and a place to eat and live, so injured or not, he could do little things. They had thanked him for cleaning up the house at times, even if Kokichi would complain about him being busy working. It was a little sweet, if not annoying. Sometimes the purple haired gremlin managed to persuade Shuichi into coming back to their room and getting more rest instead of letting him do the work he felt like he needed to do.

Not only was it nice to have a clean house, it was fun for Shuichi to figure out the layout of the place. The house that Nagito and Hajime owned wasn’t exactly that big, but it was bigger than the place that Shuichi used to live in. Stone but mostly wood was used, which was a bit logical, for the fact that they had to make most of it themselves. It was nicely decorated still, with photographs of the both of them together, and other things that made Shuichi smile a bit. They had certain plants in corners and to the walls, and it gave him a very forest-y vibe, even if they lived in a place where trees were scarce. There were two stories to the house, one that he basically stayed on with Kokichi and that consisted of a bathroom and a bedroom, and the bigger lower level of the place. There was a basement as well where they kept certain articles of food and clothes when it didn’t fit anywhere else, and it was clever. It was always a little colder down there, so things wouldn’t spoil too easily. 

They kept the decor of the place simple. Downstairs was the room that Hajime and Nagito shared, a bathroom near that and a living room that connected to the stairs that went up of course. The kitchen used the same tiles as the bathrooms did, which wasn’t necessarily a problem. It was probably harder to think about style when they didn’t have much to use and to live with. There were some windows of course, and it looked like a strangely professional house. Hajime had told him once that this friend of his, Kazuichi, was fairly good with his hands and anything technical or… well, he was simply good at building things and making things work the way they were supposed to. Shuichi guessed it was nice that they came to know somebody like that, because things may have looked way worse for them if they hadn’t. 

After a little while of spending his time in the house, Shuichi knew his way around there and where he could get what. He knew the insides of most of the pantries and was able to make Kokichi extra food whenever he would complain about being hungry and getting starved by Komaeda and Hinata. Eventually he was even bored enough in the empty place to re-assign the different types of utensils back to where they belonged, as the kitchen had become quite a mess of products eventually. That was around the time he realised that he was probably healed enough to help out both of the males in their daily tasks, even if that meant he would have to leave Kokichi alone for a bit. The purplenette of course whined about this whenever Shuichi would bring it up, although it was more in a way for him to show how stupid it was that Shuichi was asking his permission for this; in some ways, Ouma would never be direct in what he meant, and Saihara chose to believe this wasn’t much of a problem since figuring the mystery and truth behind his words was a fun activity in of itself. 

That’s why right now, even in the cold, Shuichi got up and quickly threw on a sweater and some good pants that he found in the closet that he shared with the prince, ready to go downstairs as he had promised to go with Hajime right after breakfast. They would simply have to go check on some of the animals they kept, and take some more wood from a place where this was stocked, having made sure to find enough before in the summer. That was before Shuichi and Kokichi had arrived at the place, but he decided not to think too much about how much work it must have been, and instead he hopped in the room as he tried to get a sock on. Ever since they came here he had managed to fix his sleeping as well, sleeping next to the literal heater that was Kokichi Ouma, and therefore he could fall asleep easier. It was quite refreshing.

‘Are you really sure you want to work right now?’, a tired sounding Kokichi mumbled as he pulled onto the covers, basically rolling himself up in them. His eyes were opened a bit, lidded, as he sighed softly, puffing out a warm bit of air that made for a funny effect in the cold room. Shuichi was very used to being cold, definitely with the house he used to live in, but the prince obviously wasn’t; back in the castle they made damn sure that he would always stay warm enough. Still, he didn’t complain about the cold, while that seemed to actually bother him. ‘Kichi, we talked about this’, Shuichi replied absentmindedly, pulling the shirt he was wearing down a bit so it wouldn’t itch as much. Somewhere during the time he spent here the ‘ _prince Ouma_ ’ had changed to ‘ _Ouma-kun_ ’, to simply ‘ _Kokichi_ ’. The purple haired former prince did not comment much on this; he didn’t seem to mind either. He was no longer a prince after all, and Shuichi had every right to call him what he wanted. 

‘Yeah, well, it’s cold’, Ouma grumbled in response, furrowing his brows a little at the bluenette as well as he could in the position he was laying in, cheek squished against the pillow. Shuichi eyed him, smiling a little bit. He could read the other boy a little better, and it honestly was a fun activity to do so. Most of his lies were a way for him to have fun, so he didn’t care that much about causing annoyance towards others or in what way the lies would add up, but if he wanted to, he could be very consequent. Using all kinds of reverse psychology on others, Saihara noticed as well. He basically hid the meaning behind his words in plain sight for anyone willing to look, although being straightforward about being caring was difficult for him at times. ‘I can handle it’, the aspiring detective replied, stretching his limbs a little bit, feeling stiff after lying down for so long. 

Kokichi snorted, hiding his face behind his arm as he groaned softly, shaking a bit, although Shuichi was fairly sure that it was played by the boy. ‘Yeah, of course. The big strong Shuichi Saihara can handle the weather. Who taught you that, the space loving idiot?’, the former prince responded. He was referencing Kaito Momota, someone that was a servant at the castle as well. Shuichi hadn’t spent as much time with him as he could have, but whenever he saw him he was usually cheering someone up with a speech about the universe and the stars. ‘I’ll be fine, don’t worry’, Shuichi muttered to him, giving him a knowing look. 

Kokichi looked away from this, with a small frown. ‘Pff, as if I was worried!’, he made his voice a little higher pitched as he said this, trying to show how stupid he was. ‘I’ve sent my minions that are ready to kill you into the cold is all, I was just trying to warn you for the inevitable death that is awaiting you out there. I was trying to be kind, but nooo, mister meanie pants has to go and ruin it. Your loss, I won’t cry at your funeral’, Kokichi waved this off, closing his eyes tightly as he pretended to snore, basically telling Saihara to go away already. The male shook his head at this, slightly disappointed but not surprised, as he walked over to the bed. Hesitantly he reached out a hand, but feeling bold, he continued it forward until it was resting on the purplenette’s head. He stopped his dramatic snoring, but didn’t even make a small attempt to look up at the bluenette. ‘I’ll be fine, I’ve dealt with worse colds. Promise’, Shuichi told him, running a hand through the purple locks of his. Kokichi only gave a small grumble in response, pretending not to care. The aspiring detective could only hope he was reassured a bit. 

Since Kokichi wasn’t stopping him anymore, the male exited the room and rushed down the steps, meeting Hajime in the living room. He was alone in there, which meant that Nagito was possibly still asleep. If he remembered correctly, the male only had some tasks around the house today, so it would make at least a little bit of sense. It was nice to know that Kokichi wasn’t completely alone when they’d be leaving. 

Hajime waved at him with a little smile. ‘Ready to go already?’, he asked. One of the cats was nuzzling his leg where he was sitting, and it was a very homely view. The animals seemed at ease where they lived, and it made Shuichi happy, if not a little bit sad. He tried not to think too much about the past for his mentality’s sake, but sometimes he simply couldn’t help it. Perhaps it was his pessimistic nature that told him every good thing had to come to an end eventually, like it did everywhere he had gone to up till now. He may have lost Destiny, and that sentence was ironic on it’s own as it didn’t feel like he was paying much attention to fate anymore. He may have lost people that were his friends at the castle; Rantaro, Kirumi and Kaito. All of them had done something they possibly shouldn’t have, and who knew what could have happened to them for this. At least Chihiro would be fine, Shuicih thought. He wasn’t mad at him anymore, even if he wished to be sometimes. He wasn’t mad at him at all. Who could blame him, after all? It was nasty and a horrible set of circumstances, but the brunette male wasn’t to blame for it. 

‘Yup, ready and steady’, Shuichi chucked a little nervously as he rocked on his heels. He really hoped he’d be of help, instead of proving to be more of a nuisance than anything. The words of his parents wouldn’t ever leave his mind whenever he was ready to do something new, but he tried to ignore them to the best of his ability. ‘Good. You can take some of the bread that’s in the kitchen, we’ll leave in a little bit. I still have to check some things with Nagito’, the brown haired male said with a small nod, getting off the couch he was sitting on and letting Lucky roam through the room freely as he sniffed on the multiple pieces of furniture as though he hadn’t seen them before. ‘Alright’, the bluenette told him with no complaints, letting him leave the room and watching as the other left off to go to his shared room with Komaeda. This meant his assumption about Nagito sleeping had probably been correct. 

Shuichi left to go to the kitchen, seeing how Hope was already there, even if he wasn’t supposed to be. He was gnawing on the leg of the table, minding his own business, so Shuicih decided to let him to it as well. He saw indeed some pieces of bread had been left out of the pantry for him, and he took them gratefully. Even though it wouldn’t taste like meals that Kirumi could make, who was just as amazing a chef as she was a maid, it was enough for him. He wasn’t used to always eating breakfast anyway, although his time at the castle made him a little more healthy in that regard. He could remember eating worse things, so this definitely wasn’t a punishment of any kind. 

Nibbling on the baked bread, harsher on the out- than on the inside, he waited for Hajime to come back, which he easily did. He was carrying a small backpack now, that Shuichi had seen on Nagito before, so that was probably what their talk had been about. ‘Alright then. Follow me, I know my way around here’, Hinata said with a warm smile. He was dressed to the cold weather as well. A sweater such as the one Shuichi was wearing and a lighter pair of pants underneath it, but they were matching quite enough. He held onto the handles of the bag that was slung over his shoulders, although he reached out a hand to unlock the backdoor of the place, letting out Shuichi at first. 

Shuichi hadn’t really gone outside in a little while now. He didn’t mind being inside of the place, shielded from everything and anything that could harm him out there, away on his little fantasy with Kokichi that warmed his bed and his heart in a strange yet understandable way. He wasn’t a very adventurous person anyway, so the coziness of their room and unpredictable company was all he could and would need. The cold air hitting his face was somewhat refreshing, if not a little nostalgic. His hair moved from his face as it was being blown back softly, and he couldn’t help but to close his eyes for a moment. When was the last time that Ouma had used this sense? The feeling of air reaching and running through his body and reaching his veins, the feeling of standing on the soft ground that was littered with grass, the small plants that made fields worth visiting. And yet, in a moment like this, the name of the prince would be back on his mind.   
Was that such a bad thing, though? 

‘It’s a little more north, higher up in the mountains. Prepare for feeling more coldth’, Hajime told him with a soft chuckle as he started to walk in the direction he had shown Shuichi before. There was a small path, mostly made of mud and sand instead of the harsh rock or grass at places, which marked the ways they could go. Without a question, Shuichi followed the brunette on his way, taking in the things he could see around him. He’d never been this high up before, after all. It was quite the experience. 

Even though it was basically in a danger zone since it wasn’t inside of a certain kingdom, Hajime and Nagito lived in a beautiful place. The house they used to share with the both of them but was now also getting lived in by Shuichi and Kokichi was hidden away a little bit behind the high rock, making it unviewable from the castle. He had seen before that in this rock a flight of stairs was carved. It was able to bring them up on the rock, where they would have a better view of the castle itself. It was a way to keep tabs on the kingdom without endangering themselves too much by doing so. Very clever, Shuichi thought.

More down the mountains on the left Shuichi could see a forest, one that had roots all the way to the kingdom, as he remembered walking through a part of it with Kokichi when he had tried to escape the place. That was also where he supposed these friends of the pair lived, since that’s what Nagito had told him before. A path trailed down to the forest as well, confirming this suspicion to him. He could hear the constant rushing of water nearby, sounding like a mountain river. He could see the stream as well if he looked close enough to the forest, although where it came from was a mystery to him. The soft chirping of birds nearby, even during this cold, made the male smile a little bit. Feeling closer with nature was never a bad thing, and this place truly was a way for him to relax. It was a different way of living, sure, but not necessarily a bad one. This way he could almost ignore the busy sounds from Lavender Kingdom that still managed to reach his ears so now and then. 

‘You coming?’, Asked Hajime Hinata as Shuichi had started to slow his pace walking on the path, and was getting behind a little. They were nearing where the mountains straightened up a bit and connected in a way, leaving out an opening for them to be able to go through. It was like a tunnel, dark in the middle of it but with light coming from the otherside. Shuichi quickened his shuffling over the small grind he noticed so now and then, catching up with Hajime. ‘S-sorry’, he said a little sheepishly, scratching his arm. ‘I got distracted’. ‘Not a problem’, Hajime replied, straightening the bag that was on his back. It was opened a bit, but nothing seemed to be inside of it. ‘Just make sure you don’t get lost here’. 

Luckily, Hajime had thought about the fact that the natural tunnel they would walk through would be dark, as he brought a lighter. It made Shuichi feel a little less nervous about walking there, luckily. He followed the plain looking guy into the dark, where the male switched on the lighter. The small red flame lit up the space only a little, reflecting on the damp walls that were inside of the mountain, obviously. The stone seemed old, yet carved out in a way, and it was a strange sight. He wanted to be out of there immediately, but something else caught his eye, making him frown a bit as he reached out a hand carefully to touch the wall of stone. Something had been carved into there. Something specific. 

‘Hinata-kun, do you know what this is?’, the aspiring detective couldn’t help but to ask, as he touched the strange rectangular shape, something that was inside of it carved out a bit more round, and in a strange shape. The brunette looked over at the mention of his name, and hummed softly. ‘Oh, that? Not sure. Me and Nagito noticed it the first time we went through here, too. Not sure what caveman was into art, but we figured it must have been something like that’, the guy shrugged it off, waiting patiently for Saihara to move on. The male tilted his head a bit, as he noticed a long stripe, something like a little bit of space between the rocks. His finger glided down the long crack, and he could feel the sharp edges of both sides of the rock. ‘This almost seems like a door’, he heard himself whisper. ‘But there’s no doorknob to open it’. 

‘That’s possible’, Hajime replied, obviously thinking a bit about it as well. He scratched his neck, following the bluenette’s small investigation. ‘I was told by our friends that long ago this place was part of a kingdom as well, it could have something to do with that?’. Shuichi hummed quietly and pressed more to the stone. It didn’t open, but his fingers did hurt as he did so. The edge wasn’t well kept, and cut into his skin a little bit, leaving it red and irritated. The little bit of light coming from the other male’s lighter definitely wasn’t enough to help Saihara see the whole picture, so he stepped back a bit. ‘In any case, it doesn’t seem like we can do something about it right now. I’m sorry for holding up work’, he said sheepishly. The walk to this place had taken a little while already, and now they only wasted time on talking about a supposed door in a wall that they weren’t able to open anyway. 

With that both of the males left the space that was open in the rocks, and instead walked up to the light that they had seen on the other side of the natural tunnel before. The place they ended up in was more open, again hidden away very nicely by rocks and high mountains, but it seemed as though it was a bit of a work space for both of the males that lived here; there were different wooden and stone works, interesting Shuichi immediately. Hajime clapped in his hands, and smiled a bit. ‘I’ll show you what we have to do around here’, the guy told him, before dragging him to the different buildings simply to introduce him to them. 

They had some sort of storage place where they kept different kinds of products: there were big, almost metal barrels that held certain liquids or things like that, Shuichi supposed, and he could see they stored things like corn and wheat in different racks. Another storage place had been built next to it, which was a little smaller but contained lots and lots of firewood. Hajime told him that Nagito and he had managed to chop enough to make it to next spring, so they wouldn’t have to worry about weather making the wood soggy and bad to burn. Further down the path was a greenhouse made of what seemed like makeshift glass and wood, and it was a rather large one. Hinata explained that this wasn’t completely their belonging, as the friends he had mentioned before, Gundham and Kazuichi, used it as well. They were quite modest in the part of yield that they took for themselves, so it had never been a problem. Another, smaller greenhouse was used for certain herbs, which Shuichi supposed was what they had made him tea with. And of course, there was a makeshift stable that held certain animals. 

‘This is.. amazing’, Shuichi muttered at the sight of the different buildings. Just how long had Nagito and Hajime been living here? It must have taken them a long time to make all of this. Even with the help of two friends, it would take months, possibly years. How they had survived here without all of this, it would be a mystery. Sure, he had heard that sometimes Kokichi had made the castle send them some goods, but most of it seemed to be in their own hands, and that was admirable. ‘Thank you. We worked very hard on it’, Hajime told him, and Shuichi felt himself turning a bit more embarrassed for the fact that he said that out loud and that the brunette had heard. It was true though. ‘Well then, let’s get down to business, shall we?’, Hajime continued, nudging him in the side softly. 

The male told Shuichi everything he needed to know about everything they had to do that day. First, they went and checked on the animals together. They owned two cows and a calf it seemed, chickens, and even a goat that neither of them wanted to get rid of. Behind was a special part for a tired looking horse that they had taken with them from the kingdom, and although they were able to feed it well enough, Hinata told Shuichi that the animal rarely got a ride anymore since they simply didn’t have the time. They had to clean the different stables they were in, which was quite the task and therefore took pretty long. They also needed to check if the building was completely intact, so they wouldn’t have to worry about the animals dying from the cold later on in the winter. It was around time that it would turn the most cold it had been in a while after all, and even if the animals were now kind of used to the change of weather, you can never know for sure. 

When the cleaning was done, Hajime showed him to a place where they kept the different types of food for the different animals, and they fed them what they would need for the day. At the same time, Hinata told the bluenette to collect whatever eggs he could find, and that Shuichi did. The chickens weren’t exactly scared for people anymore, although they were a little curious when someone they didn’t recognize entered their spot and came to collect their goods, pecking his skin softly so now and then. It did hurt a little bit, but not too bad, and without too many hurt marks littering his skin Shuichi managed to fill the special basket that Hajime had given him with the eggs while coming back. At that moment, he could see that Hinata was milking the cow already, and on the other side of her there was another small stool placed. When the brunette noticed him, he waved him over to sit down there. The other cows didn’t really seem to mind his company, too busy eating to care. 

Even though Hajime made it seem like a simple task, it wasn’t that simple, for sure. Shuichi had to be sure to hold onto the animal well enough, so his grip wouldn’t loosen accidentally and nothing would happen despite his efforts. ‘You’re doing fine, for your first time. Trust me. Komaeda managed to break down a part of the building his first time helping me’, the average guy laughed quietly, seeming not to mind the memory, maybe even having grown fond of it. At least it helped him loosen up a bit, since he was fairly sure he wouldn’t be able to take down the building even if he for whatever reason would want to. This work didn’t seem to fit him very well, and he didn’t like how he got his hands dirty, but he helped the guy without complaints anyway, reminding himself of the fact that he stayed in his house and they didn’t complain about him either. 

It was starting to get later after they had also collected different herbs from the smaller greenhouse. The bigger greenhouse they didn’t really need to visit since it wouldn’t have anything ready to harvest. For that, they would simply need to bring some of the packages ready for them from the storage shed. They even had a wheelbarrow standing there, for when a load was too big to carry. According to Hajime they would be needing it today, since they would also bring some of the wood for the fireplace. So, they began stacking a bit. They would take turns walking with it, since it was pretty heavy. 

The wheelbarrow wasn’t necessarily hard to push. It was a bit difficult at the first part because there was no path yet and they had to get the wheels through the grass, but when they reached the path itself, it was a lot easier. Sure, small pebbles and uneven bits in the ground made the small carriage sway a little dangerously and at some point Shuichi was afraid he would accidentally drop everything onto the ground, but it was mostly not that hard to deal with. Even when they had to go back through the small tunnel-like pathway, to get on the other side of these mountains, and their sight was limited as it was dark in there, Shuichi managed to hold the handles of the object he was basically pushing forward and keeping the thing balanced. That this was something he was proud of, was something that Hajime did not need to know. 

‘Hey, look at that’, Hinata spoke up as they were reaching the outside of the tunnel. They ignored the strange marks that were now on their left side, as they couldn’t really figure out what they meant anyway. As Shuichi looked ahead of them, he could see what the brunette meant. White flocks of cold were fluttering to the ground, and he smiled a little bit. It was snowing. Even though cold weather wasn’t necessarily fun, Shuichi very much enjoyed the wonder of iced water falling like soft little emblems from the sky, covering everything it could reach into a lovely white, contrasting with the beautiful dark night sky whenever he would stay up too late. Even if his parents didn’t want him to, back at his old place he would sometimes sneak out during the night on winter evenings like this one, simply to watch the view. It was marvelous, at the very least. 

Now Hinata looked a little more in thought though, as he shook his head a bit. ‘I hope Nagito is doing well… cold weather isn’t exactly his forte’, the male mumbled softly to himself. Shuichi was now curious, as the topic of the white haired male was finally engaged upon. Normally he wouldn’t ask anything about it, but his curiosity was basically unstoppable now as the mystery of Nagito Komaeda was one of the most interesting things inside of their small house, besides Kokichi of course, who still successfully managed to occupy his thoughts almost all day. ‘Oh, yeah… what is up with him, anyway, if I may ask?’, Shuichi asked as carefully as he could, his feet hitting the now cold ground, even getting colder while he was wearing shoes, but that was the downside to having to wear cheaper clothes than usual he supposed. 

‘Ah, well. He gets sick easily’, Hajime chuckled nervously, scratching his neck. ‘Well… to say it better, he _is_ sick all the time, but he can get worse. He’s uh… well, he’s at the same time a very lucky, yet very unlucky kid’, the male muttered, his brows frowning. Shuichi listened, finding the story interesting if not sad, but he had yet to feel bad for asking, which was new. ‘It’s a wonder that he’s still alive, honestly, with the amount of different illnesses that are inside of him ever since a young age. Not that I’m not glad! I don’t want to take any risks, is all. But knowing him, he wouldn’t mind too much. I wouldn’t be surprised if Kokichi roped him into going outside, anyway. He loved snow. Ever since he was little’, Hinata basically changed the subject that way, chuckling softly. He nudged the aspiring detective in the side, with a knowing look that Shuichi decided to ignore. 

Not that surprisingly, this showed to be exactly the truth once they finally reached the house. Kokichi was outside, wearing his pajamas still which made Saihara shake his head a little disappointedly. Nagito seemed to be looking for something, supposedly Kokichi himself that was hiding behind a pile of something, and gathering snow, making a snowball. He peeked over the rubbish, and saw the male bent over, and… shot the ball at him. Shuichi couldn’t help the surprised giggle that left him as Nagito basically shot up at this and grabbed onto his behind where the cold ball of ice had hit him. ‘Yeah! Bonus points for Kokichi, baby!’, the purple haired gremlin cheered as he rushed towards nagito, jumping onto his back and making him fall down into the snow with a harsh complaint about this. Hajime sighed and called out to show them Shuichi and Hajime himself were arriving at the place. Both Ouma and Nagito looked up and smiled a bit at the males that were arriving now, which looked kind of funny considering Nagito’s situation. 

‘Don’t be too harsh with my man now, gremlin’, Hajime warned him, dragging the purple haired boy off of his boyfriend, who complained softly. ‘No fun! I was winning the match!’, he whined as he struggled against his hold over exaggeratedly. Shuichi chuckled quietly as he watched them. Hajime helped Nagito to stand up, as the male dusted off his clothes, snow falling from it. They were talking a bit about how Komaeda was feeling after this, since the brunette was obviously worried. Ouma sneezed softly behind him, and Shuichi hummed, walking up to him. ‘Hey, let’s go inside. You’ll get sick’, the blue haired boy told the smaller one, who raised a brow as a small smirk got on his lips. ‘Ooh, you wanna get me inside all alone? Such a pervert you are! But of course, mister Saihara, after you’, Kokichi rambled, giving a small bow before shoving Saihara to go inside. 

‘What was that for?’, Shuichi grumbled softly as he almost tripped over his own feet at these harsh manners. Kokichi pushed past him basically, going straight for the stairs. ‘I was getting tired of those stupidheads outside, and want to spend some quality time alone with my favorite Saihara-chan! Now speed up, slowpoke, because if you don’t actually need those legs you can never be certain you wake up with them tomorrow!’, Kokichi responded, the last part turning into a sing-a-song voice, which was mildly discomforting. Shuichi managed to put up with him so far though, far enough to realise this was probably an empty threat. Hopefully. 

They reached their bedroom, and Kokichi flopped down onto the bed, basically. ‘So! How was working with Dull Boy today?’, he asked, seemingly faking this interest as he kicked his legs, but one could never be sure what was true and false with the male. He seemed to have his good spirit back, being a little more hyperactive now. ‘It was… good, I think. It was kind of fun’, Shuichi responded all honestly, scratching his neck a bit. He felt that Kokichi’s eyes were on him as he walked over to their wardrobe to pick out a set of pajamas, since it was getting late and he wasn’t going to go out anymore anyway. ‘ _Kind of fun?_ ’, Ouma asked, with a small growl. ‘You ditched me for just ‘ _kind of fun?_ ’’. ‘I didn’t ‘ditch’ you prince Ouma, we talked about this already’, Shuichi responded calmly as he folded the clothes he was carrying. Strangely enough, Kokichi didn’t talk after this, but he could hear his footsteps in the room. For a moment Saihara was convinced that the male left the room, but he squeaked quietly when he was pulled away from the open closet and basically pushed into a corner, turning to see Kokichi, with a strange kind of look on his face. 

‘I thought we were over this ‘prince Ouma’ stuff already’, the male said, strangely calm as he tilted his head and looked at Shuichi. The bluenette gulped quietly, and smiled awkwardly as he scratched his neck again, a nervous habit. ‘O-oh, sorry. Old habits’, he muttered with a nervous chuckle behind it, seeing that Kokichi didn’t necessarily see the humor in the situation. ‘Hm. Is that what you think of me?’, Ouma asked. His expression didn’t change. It was a tricky question, for sure, so Saihara gulped softly. ‘What… what exactly do you mean?’. 

‘I meant exactly what I said. Shuichi, in what way do you think about me?’, he asked now, blinking. Even if the male seemed a little uncomfortable by his own straight forwardness, he could never feel as panicked as Saihara was in the moment. Because what was he supposed to say to that, if he didn’t really know himself? In what way, he asked. It was so specific. ‘I’m… not sure..’, Shuichi replied quietly, trying to look away. Kokichi’s hand reached out to him however, making him unable to turn his head away from confrontation. ‘Am I the higher up that you’re supposed to listen to and obey at all times?’, he asked, his eyes duller than they were before. Shuichi could only gulp quietly again, and shake his head. No, that was not quite right. ‘Am I a way to get your mind off of things. A fun little mystery?’, he asked again, his grip tightening a little bit. ‘I’m not sure why you’re asking me all this-’, Shuichi tried to respond, but Ouma shut him up quick enough with a small cry of ‘I’m trying to understand you, damn it!’. It definitely stunned the bluenette into silence for a little bit, as he tried to regain his breathing pattern, and Ouma calmed down a bit as he let go of his face. ‘I’m trying to understand you, y’know, so my men out there will be able to kill you easier’, he brushed it off, staring at his nails. 

‘Kokichi…’, Shuichi muttered. ‘Please.. be honest to me. Or, well, not necessarily honest. Just be true’. This made Kokichi snort softly as he shook his head, and stepped forward again. ‘See, this is what I mean. I want to understand you, so why are you more difficult than I am, and you won’t be able to lie even if it had to save your life?’, the prince sighed, shaking his head and trying to calm himself down. ‘Ouma…’, Shuichi mumbled, reaching out to him, but his hand was grabbed mid-air. ‘Don’t. Just tell me. What am I to you? Am I a prince, am I a clown, what am I? I don’t understand, help me understand’. Shuichi cleared his throat, and pulled his own hand back, looking away. ‘...I can’t’, he replied calmly, even if his voice quivered a little bit. Why did this talk go from fun and sweet to serious so easily? Had Ouma been struggling with this for a while?   
  
‘You’re giving me a lot of mixed signals, Shuichi’, Kokichi chuckled, although there was no humor in the laugh. ‘You sleep in the same bed as me, hug me, you spent time with me and are willing to listen to me when you need to. Yet you’re distant, and you’re hesitant’, he continued, tilting his head a bit. ‘It’s always a fifty fifty chance with you. If I lean in, you either would meet me halfway, or you’d smack me. And to be quite frank, a smack from you is the last thing I would want’. 

‘What are you implying’, Shuichi asked, his voice quivering more. His stomach felt strange, like it was turning, but not in a bad way. ‘Not implying’, Kokichi huffed, waving his hand in front of the male’s face. ‘Asking, stupidhead! Which one is it going to be? Will you meet me halfway, or will you smack me in the face? Because I truly have no idea, and I’m usually kind of good at this stuff’, Ouma asked. It had taken him long enough, and he was tired. Tired of waiting for fate to present itself to him. He had given Shuichi enough hints, enough small talk, and the male could very well look through his lies, so there was no excuse. He could mess up, but messing up was better than the confusion that Shuichi made him feel. He had known back when Shuichi was his servant that something was happening between them, even if the servant himself had not known, or tried not to know. But he was smarter than that. 

‘Kokichi… I’m not sure what you want me to say’, Shuichi replied honestly. There were more important things than this to worry about, but at the same time, this was perfect timing. They were used to living here, they were getting better and things were a bit more peaceful. So why was he feeling resistant in a way? ‘You… are important to me’, he continued, feeling himself blush a little bit, as he looked away. ‘Even if you’re not supposed to be, but…’. ‘...But?’, Ouma pressed, stepping closer again. ‘Shuichi. I’m not your prince anymore. You’re not my servant. Whatever is holding you back, it can’t be as insignificant as feeling inappropriate’, the male jabbed, hoping he guessed right. And maybe he did guess right, very right. 

He was right, after all. Shuichi was no longer his servant. He didn’t hold any power over him, technically. Technically, Shuichi didn’t have to serve him any longer, he didn’t need to get on his knees for him at the wave of a hand and he didn’t have to clean up after him no matter the mess. His life did no longer depend on serving the other in a solemn professional environment. The future didn’t depend on it anymore. Fate had pushed them together, sure. It was meant to be, perhaps, and he knew this. He didn’t want to acknowledge it. Even with fate on his side, did Kokichi deserve the person he was? They had equally messed up things going on in their lives, sure. And Shuichi would have loved to be able to stay away from him, to make things simpler. But it would only take a little push. And that little push, came quicker than he thought it would.

‘What if… I show it to you’, Kokichi offered, a sly smile on his face. It was hiding his nerves, Saihara could easily tell. ‘You don’t have to feel bad about anything, you know. I know you do. You are like that, you always were… it’s sad, but it’s you. You’re.. a special person, Shuichi Saihara’, Ouma continued, rocking on his heels slowly. He inched a little closer. Shuichi let him. ‘So are you’, he responded breathlessly. His heart was pounding quicker, and he tried to ignore why this was the way it was, but he couldn’t. ‘Shuichi… how about I treat you like a prince tonight, hm?’, Kokichi asked, his voice quivering a bit like it never would again. It was a simple question, one that held a lot of worries for the both of them. 

A part of him wanted to step away, the part that was still telling him not to engage like that. Things were far simpler to deny when he was the male’s servant, but he no longer was. His heartbeat has sped up more than enough for him unable to hear his own thoughts anymore. He could have been misunderstanding, of course, but if Ouma was offering him what he wished he was offering, he wouldn’t be able to say no even if he tried. So, against all better odds, knowing that the male could be pulling a prank on him like always, and swayed by the jolly spirit taking over his head during the wintertime, he gave a small nod, and a careful ‘please’. 

Snow tapped and nestled against the windows of the house softly as hands grasped each other and lips were pressed together in a strange haste yet a passionate connection that they had felt without the action long before, yet ignored. Birds made their last flight in this weather, too cold for them to nest. Soft touches and small words, quiet pleas and exhilarating, enchanting sensations of pleasurable engagements, private and never to leave the room, but to stay in the minds of the young gentlemen forever. The small house in the mountains had never carried the heavy scent of sweet lavender more than this day, and it would be the first time in history that every lavender in Lavender Kingdom would be fully blooming during the harsh weather of winter in which the flowers were supposed to be down the most. 

Nagito chuckled softly as he grasped onto the hand of his significant other, the both of them sitting outside in the snow, the scent entering their nostrils even if they decided to ignore it. ‘You had a talk with Kokichi?’, Hajime asked calmly, intertwining their fingers as he watched the dark sky. Komaeda nodded, clearing his throat softly. ‘I sure did. And it seemed to have worked’, he mumbled, making the brunette snicker softly, the sound fading away in the cold night.


	19. Change is Happening

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘Change is already happening’, Akamatsu decided with a smile, nodding.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> It's been a while since I updated this, but I didn't forget about the story! Like I said, it might just take long for me to update it as school has started for me again.   
> The biggest part of the chapter is about Kaede and Maki I think, and where they show their own use in the story. 
> 
> TW: implied sexual content (no actual smut), swearing, and the usual.  
> Be sure to check the tags sometimes, just to be safe!

Just as it used to in the darker days of December and marking of winter time, the sun went down in the early evening to make place for a shiny and big moon in Lavender Kingdom, although this time light didn’t fail to brighten up the streets and pathways either way. Christmas time in the kingdom had always been lovely, no matter the harsher circumstances men had to live through. They had their own special little traditions that one would not find in any other kingdom, distinguishing this land from all the others in a way. Before a certain purple haired prince was born, lavender flowers were accustomed to be taken with and hung in cute little self made tea bags on doors to keep out the bad spirits and show an open mind towards the new year. Streets were filled with happy laughter of both the younger folk and the elderly, no matter the way that the cold changed life, sometimes for the worse. It was a fest of optimism and happiness, one that most that had been to Lavender Kingdom would not want to miss for the world. 

Still, this year differed from every other. The news about the early and sudden death of the king and queen had just raced through the place about a month ago, and it hadn’t quite sunk in yet; it wasn’t even mentioned to nearby countries and kingdoms that were supposed to be allies. Instead, Lavender Kingdom now functioned mostly on its own, being led by the harsh grip and governance of a new leader, Tsumugi Shirogane. Supposedly she was a good friend of the king and queen, at least that was what the story could tell the citizens of the kingdom, and since their son was not in the picture anymore, the lady seemed to be the only one able to actually take over. And, if they had to believe the stories that left the castle like tiny little rumors creeping through opened windows and forgotten about doors, she didn’t mind sitting on the throne; not at all. It was as if it was made for her, according to some of the royal staff, and that was somewhat of a reassuring thoughts to the residents of the small town in Lavender Kingdom, since things seemed to be going downhill fast ever since the king and queen could no longer keep the secret of their son being a witch. 

Yes, supposedly, they had known, and kept it a secret. One after another shocking things about the former royal family left the castle, and word got on the street that it was no coincidence that at this time, after their son’s disappearance, the royalty spoke their last words. Although speaking was not really something you could call it, considering that after the double burning at the stake that went on, neither the king nor the queen ever left the castle again. They weren’t there during the act, and seemed not to want to be there after it. It was questionable whether or not they were aware of the fact that both of the boys, which everyone now presumed were both witches as well or at least enchanted in a way, escaped their cruel fate. They may have never heard the news indeed, and died with the thought of seeing their son back in the afterlife. Some of the citizens of the kingdom were already convinced that both the king and queen had deserved the disappointment they would stumble upon if this was the case. 

Yes, instead of bright christmas lights and street shops that had to close off but never did until later hours of the night when noses froze and hands got too cold not to shake when reaching for the hot chocolate that was made and sold for only the flip of a coin, some houses of the town were lit up in equally beautiful but more destructive lights of a natural material, hot and red as the flames took down different shops and different buildings. Citizens were afraid to go out on the street at night, afraid they would be caught doing something that the new rules forbid them to do, since this is what would happen to them if they disobeyed. A safer Lavender Town, one where activities such as wizardry wouldn’t slip through anyone’s mind and would be handled just like any other crime was promised the folk, and they felt the need to be grateful, even if this brought a severe uncertainty. 

Still, even at this hour where most decided not to open their doors anymore afraid of what would happen, two shadows moved through the street, forms wearing warm cloaks to keep themselves from freezing, as if they had never done that before. One held a small lantern, lighting up the way to walk instead of focussing on the smell of burning wood and the bright flashes of whatever building or structure had been chosen to go down next. Hoods were held over their heads, and a shadow was over both of their faces, keeping them anonymous for whoever decided to open up their window to see who it was daring to step through the snowed street with whatever consequence this could have. And yet a determination they could sense, one that made most poor young women standing at their window sills shut down the glass to close as quick as they could, wanting nothing to do with it, even if they were curious to where these two forms were trying to come. 

They rushed through the streets and over the pathways hidden away by the ice cold white material, feets barely able to leave footprints as it didn’t take long for a layer of snow to fill up whatever empty spot they left behind with their shoes that were definitely not made for this type of weather. No sounds left them as they knew where they were going, simply to see for themselves. Running up the small hills that started to get a little higher every second that passed was harsh, but the first one of both of the shadow figures seemed like they would definitely not slow down because of this. The second had a little bit more difficulty in this, as a pale hand reached out from out of a long coat sleeve, and was grabbed thoughtlessly by the first figure, to help the other out to come forward. One could say they were used to one another, and it would not be a lie, no. It was very much close to the truth. 

It didn’t take too long for them to reach their destination. After all, the fields that were close to the castle were full of the flowers they were looking for. Shuffling with their foot, a bit of the grass was revealed, snow being shook off from the pretty purple lavender flower that both of the figures gazed upon. In amazement, one let down her hood, showing her blonde locks that lit up a little under the moonlight, and she blinked as a tender and knowledgeable face inched closer. ‘Look, Maki. I told you, didn’t I?’, the soft voice of the lady spoke up, letting go of the hand of her loved one, reaching out towards the flower and carefully removing its stem from the ground, to bring it up closer. The scent of lavender reached their nostrils very pleasantly like it hadn’t done in a while, and the blonde couldn’t help but to smile. 

Maki Harukawa kept up her hood as her hair started to flow out of it from being stuffed backwards into it, and little flocks of snow started to get stuck in it. She too could see the vibrant and pretty color of the usually dull flower, and her finger reached her lip like it usually did as she was deep in thought about something. Kaede, her girlfriend, seemed to be thinking in a very positive way about this, but Maki herself wasn’t so sure. ‘What does it mean?’, she asked, keeping her voice low. Even if she wouldn’t be recognized by face, she didn’t want to give any citizen willing to listen in on the conversation the wrong idea. After all, she had a role to uphold, even if she didn’t agree with it. It was for the greater good, and she was trained for it after all, so it didn’t matter all too much. Eventually she would be able to get out of there, but for now the internal war was going on like it had never before, and seeing the lavender flowers bloom like they haven’t in such a very long time may have been a turning point in this fight. 

‘It means that there is hope’, Kaede Akamatsu responded without a single bit of doubt in her voice. The blonde woman always had a lot more positivity inside of her than anyone else that Maki had ever met and would ever meet, and perhaps it was one of the qualities of the lady that she had fallen in love with. She was convincing, very much so, and her smile was almost addicting if not infectious, although Maki herself didn’t smile as much. Her own hand reached to her belt were her own most familiar way of talking, her weaponry, was kept. There was no way she couldn’t believe the lady when she was as happy as she was right now, even if her conscience told her that this wasn’t exactly over yet and more trouble would be soon to come, but she decided to ignore it for now. It wasn’t like it would be the last time she kept any worry to herself, after all. ‘And the prisoners?’, Harukawa heard herself asked. Human compassion wasn’t her biggest talent, but she was learning from Akamatsu. 

Kaede hummed, thinking for a moment and letting the cold December breeze take her mind off of the actual trouble at hand for now. Then she nodded, confident in what she wanted and needed to say, holding the flower, still beautifully purple and blooming, against her chest. ‘We need to show them. Everyone deserves to have hope, don’t you think?’. Maki tilted her head. ‘Right now?’, she asked, and although she was a little confused, this did not shine through in her voice. Where Kokichi was very able to fake his emotions and act dramatic, Maki had her own problems showing her actual feelings towards things, which came in handy in her line of work, but less handy when she was among friends. Kaede didn’t blame her for it, though. No. The blonde would never do anything like that; she was much too compassionate. In that regard they complemented each other quite nicely, so to say. 

The choice was made before Maki could say anything about it, as the lady nodded once, her rosy nose, tinted by what the cold did to her blood flow, sharp and basically showing that there was no other way. The castle was nearby, and it would be quicker to get there than to get back home right away anyway, so it wasn’t like it really negatively affected the two. Kaede didn’t come to the castle that often, but one of the pros of being in the royal guard team and often fighting their fights and conflicts for them, was that it meant Harukawa could get into the castle without being sent away right upon entering. At least, that was what it used to be like back when lady and lord Ouma were still alive. Just like anyone else, the brunette herself wasn’t really aware when and how this happened, and she could only guess that no one, so not even prince Ouma, outside of the kingdom had any knowledge of this. It seemed to be a cover of Shirogane. Neither Kaede nor Maki trusted the bluenette, but there was nothing to do about her hierarchy; at least, not by themselves, that is.   
  
The goal was to get into the castle without having any questions asked, So they could swiftly go to the cellar of the place where the prisoners were kept. Still, as they opened the heavy castle doors, one of the newer servants caught their attention, that simply stood there. Maki remembered her name to be something like Mukuro Ikusaba, and she had been acquainted with Tsumugi before the woman even got in the position she was now. It was a shame she was a servant, really, since her skills for fighting were remarkable. Any intruder was easily tackled by the short haired woman, who had the same emotionless stare at times as Maki herself could have; still, she was suspicious in Harukawa’s book. Without another word, Maki bowed a little to her, although Mukuro didn’t move. 

‘What are you doing here?’, the black haired lady asked calmly, blinking at the both of them. Now was when Kaede noticed another presence where they were standing, and she gasped quietly as she quickly stood up straight, feet next to each other neatly like her mother had told her to do whenever she was nervous but didn’t want to show this. ‘Your shift is finished’, Mukuro continued, tilting her head a little bit. Maki could feel the hand of her girlfriend grip onto the back of her cloak, but didn’t respond to it, as she didn’t want to be found out. ‘New job’, Maki responded just as undetailed as Mukuro could be, seeing the smallest bit of a frown settle on the woman’s face. She didn’t like to admit it, but this made a little bit of pride swell up in her own chest. ‘I wasn’t aware you were being contacted today’, Ikusaba managed to jab back, folding her arms over her chest. The maiden dress she was wearing didn’t fit her personality even the slightest bit, and it made Maki happy that she herself didn’t have to wear anything like that. 

Mukuro was a very intelligent and yet not very notable young woman. Just a week after she got hired out of the blue to become a servant at the castle, she had memorised every single schedule of every single person that worked at and for the place, and she could already figure out the delivery of new tasks systems and where several servants stood in the eyes of the royal family regarding the amount of times they were asked to do something. She could easily figure out who to keep an eye on and who to not be afraid of, as if she could sniff out the scents of betrayal and mindfulness like a dog. Is was admirable really, but at the same time it didn’t really work in Maki’s favor as she herself wasn’t that fond of the new leader of the kingdom, and ever since this realisation which didn’t take too long, Ikusaba kept a better, watchful eye on the woman. 

A painfully sugar coated voice rang through the hall, basically triggering Maki’s inner fight or flight response, although she managed to stay quite calm. ‘What’s going on here?’, Tsumugi Shirogane asked, her voice getting a little softer near the end, the clicking of heels hearable through the palace. The sight of the woman that once had looked so innocent was completely different now: her blue hair was held up in two strange pigtails, as she was wearing a robe of a darker red color that didn’t necessarily fit her that well, glasses still on her face, even if it seemed as though she didn’t take the time to actually use them. She’d definitely taken on the role of the royal head alright, and strangely enough no one had doubted her credibility. No one but Maki, that is, as the woman wasn’t that easily persuaded. ‘Oh- Maki, was it?’. 

Maki gave a small nod, and a little bow. ‘Yes your majesty, although I prefer Harukawa’, added the brunette with a little bit of bite, hoping that Tsumugi could somewhere catch her drift. She wasn’t phased, and only laughed softly, motioning with her had as if it was her all the same. ‘Oh, oops! I’m just so plain forgetful sometimes!’, she exclaimed, before placing her hand, sharp red painted fingernails gleaming underneath the light, on the shoulder of Ikusaba. ‘Is something the matter?’, the bluenette asked then, her eyes sharper than before, wanting Mukuro to spit it out already. The woman herself, short black hair contrasting to her pale skin, only blinked as she kept a careful gaze on the two girls that entered the castle.   
  
‘I was introducing her to a new crewmember’, Maki responded before Mukuro could say anything. The young lady didn’t respond to this, but raised a brow, definitely questioning if this was correct or not. ‘We were on our way to the cellar. Now, if you’ll excuse us…’, continued the lady, nodding over to Kaede as she promptly let go of the piece of clothing she had clamped herself onto, and gave an innocent smile, while realising she probably needed to look a bit more dangerous if she was going to pretend to be a part of the royal guard, so a sharp frown was painted on her face, comically different from the personality the blonde girl carried. ‘Oh, good luck, Makiroll!’, called the blue haired woman after them, and Kaede could see the annoyed frown setting on Maki’s face, although she didn’t say anything about it. 

The cellar was deeper inside of the castle, and the walls were made of an unpleasant stone, which is why most servants never came in there. There were certain assigned people to bring the prisoners down there food but that was about it. It was a cold and nasty place, and whereas Maki was used to this by now, Kaede gulped softly and held onto Harukawa’s hand as they slowly descended the stone built stairs into the basement part. Big wooden doors were placed where they could find different halls leading to parts of prisons and places where provisions were kept safe. Harukawa was aware where the prisoners they were looking for were kept, and she opened one of the heavy looking doors with both hands, handing over the small lantern they kept with them back to Kaede. Light flickered over the dark walls, and showed the iron bars, as basically no noise came from inside of there. ‘It’s me’, Maki simply spoke, her voice not more than a low hushed whisper. 

Now towards the bars stepped three figures, that soon enough Kaede could recognize as Kaito, Kirumi and Rantaro. Kaito and Rantaro shared one cell, and in the other one that was in front of it stayed Kirumi and the royal nurse Mikan, that had been put in here after knowingly letting Rantaro leave the nurse’s room even though he would cause Kokichi to be able to escape. She was sleeping against the wall now however, as she had never had this much free time in her life before to catch up on sleep. ‘Is there any news?’, Kirumi asked, her voice as polite as ever even in the circumstance she found herself in. She didn’t look the same without the graceful maiden dress she usually wore, but a simple outfit to be locked up in, and it made Kaede a little sad to see. Still, her gaze brightened as she remembered what she took with her, and picked it from her pocket where she’d quickly shoved the flower upon arrival at the castle. ‘Look!’, Kaede chirped, before showing them the blooming flower, a glimpse of nice purple making the three former servants eyes widen only a little bit in hope. ‘Change is already happening’, Akamatsu decided with a smile, nodding. 

* * *

  
‘Ko- hey! Kokichi, w-we need to get out!’, Shuichi giggled helplessly as his skin was smothered in kisses by the purple haired prince that had a naked arm wrapped around him tightly, keeping him laying against his chest as the bluenette tried to get out of bed. It was getting later, and they were supposed to get out right now to be able to travel with Nagito and Hajime, as they promised to both help out with work today. Even if it was cold, Shuichi was determined to go out there and help those out that helped them out to begin with, but Ouma didn’t seem to be of the same mind, instead teasing the blue haired aspiring detective with featherlight and tickling kisses to his shoulder, neck and cheek, making him swat at his face. ‘Stop it!’. 

Kokichi pouted instead, deciding to be more stubborn and let a leg wrap around the other male that was laying in bed with him, trying to convince him that it was far better to stay in for a little longer. ‘You’re a meanie, Saihara-chan! Just a couple more minutes, promise! Scouts honor’, Ouma swore solemnly, nodding once to show how legit he was in his words. Shuichi snorted softly, and for a moment ceased his struggling to brush away some of the purple locks of hair that belonged to Ouma, to be able to see those pretty and vibrant purple eyes better. ‘You said the same thing half an hour ago, we need to get out of bed, alright?’, Shuichi muttered softly, a small blush spreading over his cheeks as he leaned down and kissed the purplenette on his forehead, still not very used to the affections, even after their rather…  _ eventful  _ night. 

Both boys got dressed up eventually, even if it was paired with bashful laughing from the bluenette as he had difficulty standing up straight, and of course Kokichi decided to make the most unnecessary comments about it; but, Shuichi supposed, he picked the male together with his tendency to be an asshole, so he kind of deserved this. Throwing pieces of clothing at the prince after whatever strange comment the guy would make started to become somewhat of a habit, and Saihara couldn’t say he’d ever had more fun having a playful banter with someone. Even if Kokichi decided to make him unable to put on a shirt as he jumped onto his back and wrapped his arms tightly around his waist, he couldn’t help but to laugh quietly. It was a strange way of thinking and feeling, and for some reason Shuichi decided not to mind. He was no longer a servant, so he was free to feel what he wanted to feel, without a feeling of guilt and without subconsciously forcing himself not to acknowledge the feeling. 

As the males reached the living room and Hajime, or Izuru as Shuichi supposed right now was sitting on the couch with both of their cats, Hope and Lucky on his lap begging for attention while he boredly stared into nothingness, they stepped away a bit from each other to create some personal space, as if the very intelligent demon wouldn’t notice their shift in behaviour at all. Although, if he did notice their more giddy than usual behaviour, Izuru didn’t comment on it, and instead nodded with his head towards the door that led to the place where they usually ate. ‘Komaeda-kun is in there. You might want to take a bag with you’, he muttered, his voice lower than before as he sipped on a cup of tea, ignoring how Hope carefully tapped against the cup once he placed it back down, and stuck his little paw into it, giving a strange mew that made Kokichi snort. 

Shuichi exited the living room already before Ouma could, indeed seeing Komaeda being busy with whatever that guy did in his own spare time in the kitchen. He heard him open the door, and his head lifted up a bit, giving a careful smile towards Saihara. ‘Ah, Saihara. Good morning’, the white haired male waved a bit, before continuing to pack some of the ingredients they had in their kitchen, and some that Shuichi could recognize coming straight from the little shed where they kept most of their food and other things they would eventually need. ‘Good morning, Komaeda’, a small silence filling the room afterwards in which Shuichi scratched his neck a bit awkwardly. Even though he was very glad for the courtesy of both of the men that let them stay at their place, Shuichi usually avoided being completely alone in a room with Nagito, because he simply didn’t exactly know how to act around him. He was very.. particular, in a whole other way than Hajime was. Not necessarily unpleasant to be around. More like… difficult. 

‘Ha..ha, my apologies’, Komaeda laughed embarrassedly as he stood back a little. ‘Of course trash like me would make the atmosphere uncomfortable after a simple good morning’, the white haired male added, and Shuichi’s face fell a little bit. That was about the whole reason why he needed Kokichi to be around, since he could deal wonderfully with this type of thing. ‘Oh, no, I uh, I’m sorry’, Shuichi cleared his throat, keeping his hands out and shaking them to tell the other he was wrong with a reassuring smile, but it was too late. Nagito chuckled softly, and shook his head. ‘No need to apologize! I am well aware of the fact that I’m a lowly creature!’. However, as he said this, lights in the kitchen started to flicker dangerously, and both of them immediately snapped their gazes back towards the door, where Hinata, or who Shuichi supposed still was Izuru, was standing with a blank expression. 

An argument between the two males about Nagito’s fucked up self worth was bound to happen, but Kokichi jumped into the conversation with a not so subtle ‘I’m hungry! What’s for breakfast?’. Anyone else would have seen this as a selfish act, but Shuichi could tell that he was trying to get the conversation to change to another subject so neither of them would have to go through a fight. It made Shuichi smile a little bit, as he was less subtle with his true intentions and feelings, and he could tell that Kokichi saw this, as his head tilted a bit and his lips that were put in a pout struggled to stay that way. It was endearing, and Saihara had to pinch himself not to listen to Kokichi’s request about staying in bed after all. 

Komaeda seemed to appreciate the gesture, as he smiled a little again, even though he seemed to be lost in thought a little. ‘We will eat on the way, so I packed the food already. We only have two bags here, however’, the luckster told them, gesturing to the table where he had indeed packed some food already. Shuichi nodded, holding his own hands behind his back as he rocked on his heels a little bit, which was a bit of a nervous habit. ‘I have my backpack upstairs, I could take that with me if necessary’, the bluenette told them, to which Izuru hummed. ‘That may be a good idea. Go and get it. We will give Kokichi some ground rules about behavior before leaving’. 

Snickering softly as he could hear Kokichi’s dramatic cries to different rules, Saihara rushed up the stairs to the best of his ability with the sore pain he could still feel a bit, but the memories were good enough not to care about it too much, even if it made him blush lightly and clear his throat to himself. He hadn’t thought of his backpack in a bit and he hadn’t written in his journal either for a while, so he took a little while to look through the bedroom he shared with Ouma to figure out where he actually left the thing. Eventually he found it underneath the bed, frowning a little bit as he remembered that it had been damaged by fire, and he hoped that the stuff inside of it wasn’t actually damaged itself, because even though he didn’t have much, he still found what he did have important enough to keep. 

Sitting on his knees on the floor, Shuichi pulled the bag closer to himself, and opened it up. It smelled of ash and there lingered a small scent of Lavender on it, making him sigh quietly. The first thing he noticed was the fabric of clothes that he realised Tsumugi probably stuffed in there with as excuse that she wanted to burn everything that belonged to him. He pulled out the different pieces of clothing, burned a little bit at the top and the white undershirt having a harsher texture than before as it hardened after everything that happened, but he could still figure out this used to be his work uniform, and his heart stopped for a moment as he saw it, his hands shaking a little. He had tried not to think back about the castle too much, and sure, he had more good than bad memories, but the fact was that he had no idea what was going on inside of there right now. During the day it seemed really chaotic whenever he tried to look at it, hidden away by mountains well enough to hopefully not get caught, so it was a little worrying. 

Underneath lay his notebook that he picked out of there, opening the pages and coughing softly from the bits of ash that had nestled into it. Water had soaked into some of the pages, reminding Shuichi of how hard it had eventually rained and stormed that day, and it made him bite his lip, shaking his head to rid himself of the memory. Some of the ink he used to write was smudged and made words unreadable, but most of it was still in there, especially what he wrote about Kokichi, and he was kind of glad to see that. Certain bonding memories were due to it, and he couldn’t forget that, even though it also caused Chihiro to become scared of him and what he could do, and to turn to the king and queen about this. Shuichi couldn’t blame him of course, even if he wanted to. 

As he reached to pick up the necklace that Kiibo had gifted him that was inside of the bag as well, he heard soft knocks on the door, as it opened and he held the object in his hand, eyeing the door where Komaeda was standing. ‘Are you ready?’, the white haired male asked, his own eyes roaming over the new mess that Saihara had basically made in the room when looking through his own stuff and placing it near him when he was done with it. He then saw the strangely formed object that was inside of the bluenette’s hands, and he tilted his head a bit, thinking before his eyes widened slightly. ‘I think I have seen that somewhere before’, is what the white haired luckster told him, stepping forward. ‘Ah- but do not worry about it. Perhaps carry it on the way?’, Nagito continued, an innocent smile on his face now like he didn’t just say what he just said. 

‘You’ve seen this somewhere?’, Shuichi asked, getting up from where he was sitting and keeping the necklace that Kiibo had gifted him in his right hand as he used his other to sling the backpack over his shoulder. Nagito hummed, and scratched his neck with an awkward smile. ‘I think so, but I might be wrong. I don’t want your hope to die down after listening to me’, the male explained, earning a quiet sigh from Saihara, as he gave him a reassuring look, an expression he made often near the taller male. ‘Well, I’ll just hope for the best, then’, the bluenette said, knowing that the use of the word would make the strange luckster glow up a little again, and he followed him downstairs to the door where the other two boys were already waiting for them, Hajime holding onto Kokichi’s ear as he apparently already had broken a rule, and was now dramatically wailing about the brunette being cruel. 

They would go to the place where those friends of Hinata and Komaeda lived today, Kazuichi and Gundham if Shuichi remembered correctly. He hadn’t heard much about them, although whatever he had heard was nice in a way that he supposed they weren’t bad people at least. Supposedly they lived in the forest, more down the mountain, and Shuichi had seen a pathway reach there before so he believed it instantly. He thought it was kind of admirable for them to be able to live in a forest, as he himself couldn’t think of ever trying to, with no electricity and no connection to any liveable world. They owned a building where Hajime and Komaeda got some of the stuff they needed at home from, and Shuichi was a little excited to be able to see what was in store. 

As they followed the path, he could feel a hand rub past his own, and looking to his side, Kokichi was walking next to him, although he was looking straight ahead. This made Shuichi snicker quietly, seeing his blank expression, and he honestly never saw Kokichi as a guy to want physical attention like this a lot, but he didn’t necessarily mind that he was. So he grabbed the hand, their fingers linking together as they followed Nagito and Hajime, without a word about it. Even if Shuichi had supposed that Kokichi would immediately brag towards his friends about having basically taken over Saihara’s soul or whatever other bullshit he would manage to spew to them, it turned out not to be the case. They weren’t exactly a secret, but they kept to themselves in a way that made Shuichi feel warm inside even during this winter day. 

The path down into the forest was a little slippery and they carefully descended it, reaching the more gravel made pathway that was hidden underneath leafs of trees and bushes, although it didn’t take long for them to find it back. The forest had a completely different atmosphere than the mountains did, with its soft tweeting sounds of birds and the rustling of twigs as other creatures moved through it. During the day time it wasn’t exactly threatening, but Shuichi could understand that during nighttime this would be a Hell to walk through with all the nightly sounds that a forest held. The trees were tall and stately where they stood, and it was a beautiful picture overall. 

Eventually the bluenette could hear a soft stream of water somewhere, and it caught his attention as he figured a house may have been built close to the brook. Rippling water that drunk up the snowflakes it would catch on its way made for a beautiful music to ring through the quiet of human noise forest. So of course, Shuichi didn’t expect it when they eventually reached a more open part of the forest, only to see a rather big building; a mill to be exact, although it didn’t seem like the ones he was used to. 

He could see that even though he tried to hide it, Kokichi as well was very impressed by what he was seeing. Near the small crook of the waterstream, there was built a beautiful mill that was connected to another sort of building, a water wheel being driven by the constant flow of water next to it. The building was as well handmade he could only suppose, made out of mostly stone and wood, and the craftsmanship was incredible. Working with wind and with water, the place as well had a nice garden that seemed to be very cared for, and close by were several animals that Shuichi wouldn’t have expected to be in the forest, like a cute looking sheep, but they weren’t alarmed by the sight of these four humans walking up on the porch to the house, and knocking on the door. 

Some sounds could be heard inside of the house as well as loud talking and a laugh, and Shuichi could only stand behind Hajime and Nagito in the hopes of not being noticed. He wasn’t that keen on meeting new people, although he didn’t go out of his way to avoid it, so he supposed he would have to go through it for now. Eventually, after a bit of waiting, the big wooden door was pushed open, revealing a… particular looking man. He was wearing a long, selfmade coat with a scarf that was painted a purple color and had several symbols on it, making Shuichi tilt his head in interest. His hair was of a black color but had several grey streaks in there, and fell down in bangs framing his face basically, to which he had to wipe them out of his eyes. He was tall, and although at first glance he seemed intimidating, something felt very.. tender about him. 

‘Ah! Demonic One and Lucky One, it seems you have outlived yet another adventurous voyage to our realm of living! I will call upon my dark paramour, for he will be joyous to-’, the male started to speak, his mismatched eyes open wide and taking a strange pose where he was standing, until he saw the two males hiding behind Hinata and Komaeda. He stopped mid sentence, and cleared his throat. ‘I demand an explanation for these unbeknownst fiends on the edge of the portal to our abode’, The male then said, his voice lower than before, and almost nervous. Shuichi could now see a cat trailing behind him, and rubbing its head against his leg, although the guy didn’t seem like he noticed or minded this. 

‘Gundham, this is Kokichi, I told you about him already’, Hajime cleared his throat as he gestured to the purplenette, who widened his eyes in a childish manner as his name was called, and jumped up a bit. ‘Oh my! It’s the great mister Gundham! I have heard many legends about you!’, the guy lied happily as he clapped his hands, rushing forward to shake the other’s hand. Gundham’s face tinted a red color, and a proud smirk settled on his lips as both Hajime and Nagito looked shocked at this happening, wanting to stop Ouma from doing this. ‘Kokichi, we talked about this’, Hajime tried with a groan as the purplenette babbled about stories towards the intimidating guy, who struck a pose again and laughed. ‘I will welcome this new companion with apologies for my earlier impeachment! I see my reputation has outlived my realm of being, a gleesome novelty to reach my cursed ears!’, Gundham Tanaka exclaimed, not catching on to the prince’s lying nature yet. 

Shuichi was about to introduce himself as well, as a sudden appearance of a second guy, bright pink hair tied back in a bun and being clad in a strange looking jumpsuit, some kind of oil smeared over his cheek as he pushed some hairs out of his face, appeared in the door opening. In the sunlight that barely reached the door, Shuichi could see the metal of his necklace shimmer a bit, showing off something that made him gasp a little bit. ‘Ah, Hajime!’, the male said, seemingly happy to see him, and his teeth were strangely sharp. Gundham looked at him in an adoring way, which was sweet to see, but Shuichi could only focus on the necklace that was hung around his neck. Or, well, the copy of it, he supposed. Because Saihara was wearing exactly the same one. 

The pink haired male’s eyes met his eventually, and his face seemed to blanken up a bit too for a moment, before his eyes widened a bit, with a frown, when he found the necklace that Shuichi was wearing was an exact match to his own. Shuichi was faintly aware that Nagito seemed pleased with himself next to him, rocking on his heels as he realised what was happening, but the pink haired guy that Saihara supposed was the Kazuichi that everyone had been speaking about, cleared his throat. 

‘I don’t remember selling that to  _ you’.  _


	20. Treasure

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘You don’t want us to go. So you need us for something’, spoke the purple haired male with a small smirk.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> Hiya! Welcome by another part of shu-uploads-late-af.  
> On a more serious note, I'm sure after a couple of authors notes you are aware that chapters are going to take longer to be finished. I'm sorry for that, and I'm also sorry if they aren't as good as you hoped for them to be- I'm working towards an end of the story now, but it may take a couple of chapters for me to be able to do so. 
> 
> Warning: the usual. Just make sure to check the tags.

_ ‘I don’t remember selling that to  _ you _ ’.  _

It was a lot warmer inside of the livable place that Kazuichi and Gundham had apparently made up all from scratch, as they had a fireplace and both male’s knew how to keep it going and the remarkable pink haired male had even thought of a system to make its warmth reach throughout the house. A soft sound of wood crackling as its core was being burned for this warmth reminded Shuichi that he wasn’t in his own house right now, even if it did remind him a bit of his own. The silence was a little new, though. It took a whole cup of chocolate milk and some type of snackable that Saihara had never seen before in his life to shut Ouma up, after all. The purple haired male was happily sipping on the drink he wasn’t supposed to have since sugar supposedly made him even more hyperactive than he already was without any. 

A little uncomfortably, Shuichi glanced down at his own chest where the gleaming metal mockingly blinked right back at him, laying over his chest and sticking-out parts teasingly pressing into his clothes body as though they were trying to poke him in a way to bully him. The idea that it wasn’t supposed to be there, that it wasn’t supposed to hang around his neck and rest on his chest where he supposed his heart was hiding behind, was a new one. It had been a present to him, and he had cherished it. Definitely once he had to move out of his town. He didn’t wear it since the strange shape and unrecognizable details often brought up questions, but he did have the object on his mind quite a bit. It was the only thing that he decided was worth keeping back from home after all, besides his own notebook and some clothes that he needed. His parents hadn’t contacted him at all, not even through the king or queen which they definitely had contact with before otherwise he wouldn’t have been sent to Lavender Kingdom in the first place, and if he had to be honest he was both kind of happy and a little sad about this. It wasn’t like he necessarily wanted to remember or think about them much, but it would have been nice if they at least acknowledged their son’s existence now that he was no longer living under their roof. 

And here he was, and the only thing that he did remember not to forget, how silly it may have sounded, apparently didn’t belong to him. Sure, fate tried to show him many things. He would only have to look over at the small male sitting besides him, who was subtly taking in his own nervous leg twitching with an interesting gaze and without a word, to know this fact. But that didn’t mean that everything was about him. He felt selfish for feeling like this piece of art belonged to him, while Souda himself knew very well that indeed, it wasn’t gifted to him by the person that deserved to gift this thing. He wasn’t talking either, though. Not yet anyway. It seemed as though the men wanted to say something, but couldn’t find the words for it. 

‘It… it was a gift. For my birthday’, Shuichi finally spoke up after clearing his throat quietly. Tea had been made for all of them, minus Kokichi of course, but Saihara couldn’t bring himself to bring the cup that he was holding to his lips and take a sip as he felt he didn’t have the right to do this. It was ridiculous, sure, but the aspiring detective knew as no other what it was like to get down in the spiral of negative thoughts. ‘I see’, Souda replied, a strand of hair peeking from behind his ear, where it should have been tied back. It was as though the pink locks had a mind of their own and antagonized the guy on the daily. It wouldn’t have been a surprise; where Nagito Komaeda was a very lucky man, Kazuichi Souda seemed to have been dealt the wrong side of the coin, and was somewhat unlucky himself. 

In the small awkward silence that followed, a slurp was heard next to the bluenette where Kokichi sat, and he tried his best not to shake his head as he realised this meant the purplenette had finished his drink. The former prince put down his cup on the low table in front of him, creating quite the sound which actually managed to startle Gundham, who was busy petting a hamster that strangely enough was residing in his scarf. ‘So!’, he said, voice loud and clear, and played happy. Saihara could tell, as there was only a small shiver of hesitation before he spoke this, and his eyes turned more goal oriented as soon as the words tumbled from his lips. ‘If you’re just gonna be boring all day, isn’t it better to leave right now, Shumai?’, he asked, his expression turning more bored right away. Now he saw somewhat of a panicked glance starting to play in Kazuichi’s eyes, and Shuichi couldn’t help but to play the game that Ouma was making them play right now, so he nodded slowly. ‘Yeah, I think so’. 

As Souda opened his lips to start speaking again, Kokichi however snapped his fingers and pointed at him as he jumped up a bit where he was sitting. ‘You don’t want us to go. So you need us for something’, spoke the purple haired male with a small smirk. This had caught Gundham’s attention as well and he now was glancing at both his beloved and the purple haired devil that he let into his home without realising he was in fact not a playful child, but actually somewhat of a smart one. Hajime and Nagito looked partly apologetic, and partly amused as they basically sat back and decided to only observe where this would bring them. ‘Well then, why didn't ya say so right away?!’, Kokichi asked with a groan as his arms opened wide, almost hitting Shuichi, who was sitting next to him, in the face with this movement. He was throwing in all the theatrics that he knew, and if he had to be honest, Shuichi found it to be kind of funny if it wasn’t directed towards himself in a negative way. 

‘He doesn’t need  _ us’ _ , Shuichi observed, his voice calmer than the dramatic boy next to him was, and he didn’t realise he was speaking out loud until he saw the admiring glance of Ouma on him. His eyes were twinkling in endearment, probably because of the fact that Saihara was actually playing with him for once, and the bluenette couldn’t help but to blush a little as he cleared his throat, looking down at his lap as he continued to explain. ‘Otherwise Souda wouldn’t have made it clear that the necklace wasn’t supposed to be with  _ me,  _ don’t you think?’. For a second there was a silence that made Shuichi pretty self conscious, but then the former prince grinned wide. ‘Way to go, mister detective! Well, what makes this necklace special?’, he asked, tilting his head as he watched the pink haired male in front of them getting more nervous by the second, and he scratched his neck. ‘A-ain’t that enough? You can just give me the pendant and call it a day’. 

‘Pendant’, Shuichi pointed out, his voice soft, but all of them heard. If he didn’t know Kokichi better, he almost looked arrogant in the worst way, but he honestly was just having fun as Kazuichi felt like he was being driven into a corner that a couple of seconds ago didn’t even exist yet. ‘It’s not the necklace that’s special, my my! You are not that good at lying your way out of situations, are you?’, Ouma teased ruthlessly, ignoring how Tanaka was starting to look angry at the way they were basically jabbing at his other half. Hajime sipped his tea in utter amusement as he watched the two of them basically take down his friend, which may have been somewhat of a bad personality trait of his, but he couldn’t exactly help it. 

‘It are not the necklaces that are identical’, Saihara said, running a finger over his lip like he did at times where he was trying to get concentrated on his thoughts. ‘It’s the pendant itself that’s important. The shape, perhaps?’, Saihara commented, eyeing his partner, and realising he was looking at the pink haired guy with a certain concentration before. He let out a strange giggle, and grinned. ‘Oh yeah, that’s a part of it!’, Ouma commented. The scent of lavender started to make Saihara a little bit dizzy, but not in a bad way. He was definitely enjoying himself. ‘The metal?’, the aspiring detective made a second guess, and Kokichi jumped up from where he was sitting. ‘Bingo!’, the guy called out, shocking the poor little rodents inside of Gundham’s scarf. Kazuichi shrunk back into the chair he was sitting in even more as his eyes were a little wider; he didn’t like the fact that the two of them had read him so easily. Did not like that  _ at all _ . ‘Okay, okay!’, he hissed swiftly, shaking his head a bit. ‘If I tell ya, would ya stop being so darn scary?’, the sharp toothed guy continued, using his hands in a way to accentuate the scary part. 

Pleased with himself, Ouma flopped back onto the couch where he was sitting, and held out a fist towards Shuichi for a sidewards fist bump, which the guy returned without a second thought, feeling a little boost in confidence himself from that moment. If Ouma hadn’t started with being… well, annoying, they probably would still be here trying to get some type of explanation out of the two in front of them, so he was glad that Kokichi was innovative enough to figure out a way to pull it out of them faster. ‘We should become partners in crime, don’t you think?’, Ouma whispered to him, loud enough for the others to hear, and Shuichi chuckled quietly. ‘Sure, why not’, he mumbled back. In some way the other boy managed to get things out of him that Saihara could probably not have pulled all by himself, and he was grateful for that. Even if he couldn’t tell him right away, he was sure that Kokichi knew as well. Oh, he knew better than Shuichi did himself, if he remembered correctly. The memory made Shuichi blush a little bit, and he shook his head to ignore it for now, as Souda seemed like he was going to tell them something, something they’d been waiting for long enough. 

‘It’s a long story though…’, Kazuichi muttered after a moment of silence, glancing at the taller guy next to him, who wasn’t sure what to say. Nothing in his long library book sentences could disprove the fact that these two guys seemed kind of good at getting information anyway, after all. ‘We have time’, is what Ouma decided for the four of them, as Nagito and Hajime didn’t get any intel in this. The white haired guy looked like he was having a good enough time hearing this though, muttering something about talent and hope under his breath that Saihara decided to ignore, but yeah, he was enjoying himself. Hinata however got up from where he was sitting, and gave a small smile. ‘Well then. I’m sure that half of this story I already know, so perhaps Gundham could help me fill some bags with flour so we don’t lose too much of this work day’, the brunette spoke, and with a small grunt, Tanaka got up. ‘I was not made aware there resided yet another demonic being in the realm that you possess, Hajime Hinata’, the guy muttered, his mismatched eyes somewhat tired as he followed the other into another part of the building. 

They waited in silence for the both of them to leave, and only when their footsteps weren’t audible anymore on the wooden floors, Kazuichi let out a small sigh and sat leaned over a bit, his elbows resting on his knees. ‘Well then, the story basically starts when I was just a lil’ one, ya know?’, he spoke, clearing his throat softly. He scratched his head again where his hair bounced as he did so, but it wasn’t really enough to distract them. ‘Pa was a blacksmith, and like every son, I wanted to become like my dad. So I helped him out, y’know, his duties at the smithy ‘n stuff. On my birthdays, my old man usually made things like gears for me, ‘cause I liked building the most. Suppose I was kinda a mechanic already when I was a little one’, Kazuichi chuckled softly, but Ouma rolled his eyes and gestured for him to go on with the story. 

‘Well, one day my dad comes to me, and he goes. ‘Kaz’, he says me, ‘this birthday is like no other’. And I thought, oh well, he won’t have any gears for me to play with, that sucks. But then he goes, and he pulls out a necklace. Strangest shapes I’ve ever seen. And he tells me, the necklace comes from some rich lady of another kingdom. She needs one that is exactly the same as this one, and out of the same material, for some reason. I was good with details, y’know, being interested in building and stuff. So he tells me, ‘if you help me make it, you can have both of them’. And well, I think I just said yes, ‘cause I like the job’, Souda continued, humming softly as his hand was playing with the necklace that hung around his neck. 

‘Don’t know what I did with both of them. I think one of ‘em had hung around my neck like it did now, but the other was put in the back of my closet, with some of my other stuff. Then, I’m a little older, my dad comes to me and says that I need to get rid of one of ‘em. I had already met Gundham then, and things weren’t going too well for us. Town didn’t like us, you know? Gundham talks much, and he doesn’t always say the right things to scared little folks. They were convinced he was a demon of some kind and multiple times crosses were thrown to our heads. Even hit me once, that’s why I got this funky old lil’ scar’, the pink haired guy chuckled, pushing some of his hairs behind his ear so a small little scar was visible just above his ear. ‘And well, I was a little too good a blacksmith for them to trust me fully. Thought I was cursed, y’know? I don’t got that great of a luck, so it wasn’t that far fetched’. 

‘Well’, Kazuichi continued as he realised he got sidetracked there, ‘so my dad tells me to give up one. Needed to sell it, or something. It was mine though, of course I didn’t say yes immediately. But well, dear old daddy can punch a little harder than I can, so the decision was quickly made. He thought it was cursed, I didn’t believe him. It had been in my closet all this time, how was it supposed to get cursed? But he thought the lady tricked him. His job wasn’t doing well and with the hatred towards me and Tanaka the town as well started to spread some rumors and stuff about him. It wasn’t nice stuff, I tell ya that. He was mad, yelling and stuff. The lady had tricked him, that kinda thing. She’d told him the pendants opened some sorta place of old treasure, one that she couldn’t keep. So, I was sent to sell the thing in a nearby town, and did so. I kept one for myself though. Felt nice around my neck, had it there for a big part of my life’. 

Souda then tensed a little, biting his lip with those sharp teeth of his that probably were going to hurt it at some point. ‘Well, I got home after selling it to some funny little white haired dude. Felt right, ya know? Anyway, got back home, and the door was wide open. My dad was there. They’d busted open the door on him. Town was finally gone mad. Ripped him of his stuff and warned him to get out, cuz they didn’t want demons and shit in their community. It was all bullshit, and I was mad. Still am, really. They’d seen my teeth, figured me and Gundham were actually gonna attack the town, and they got scared. People get nasty when they’re scared, ya see’. Shuichi knew this better than anyone else, people did. 

‘Lady told him something, he tells me. My dad was bleeding, I was trying to help him. They busted the door against his head, he’s a tough one, but his head. I was looking for any towels to stop it, but they’d nacked almost everything. They wanted us out, and my pa wasn’t gonna make that. He knew. He told me, he told me that the pendant was important to someone out there. He remembered. He said it would come back to me one day, that would be the day it was gonna be important. I figured, oh, he’s talking crap because his heads probably fractured. I tried to take him with, but he was… he was…’, Souda trailed off, as his face started to pale a little more, and his hands folded together. It was definitely not a fun memory for him, Shuichi could only guess so, and even though it had been a while ago, it must have felt bad to relive it. 

Although Nagito and Kokichi seemed like they were getting into the story now, Shuichi felt a little uncomfortable for making the guy remember those horrible things happening to him. The pink haired male chuckled quietly however, shaking his head again, as though he was ridding himself of certain thoughts. ‘Well anyway. Me ‘n Gundham left that godforsaken town as quick as we could. He liked the forest. He’s an odd one, you probably can tell. So we stayed there. That’s where we found Hinata and Komaeda eventually, and the rest you already know’, Souda finished as he gestured towards Nagito that must have indeed known the whole story. 

‘Did you ever find out what the pendant is for?’, Ouma asked after the small moment of silence, sitting back and leaning into Shuichi’s side a little. It was as if he had been told a bedtime story and wanted another part that explained more, and the thought made Saihara snort quietly, which earned him a strange look from the purple haired guy. He ignored it and hid a small awkward redness to his cheeks. ‘Yeah, I think I did’, Souda told them with a nod, and ran a hand through the locks of his hair again. ‘But you’d have to come with me to test that theory. Not sure if you’re supposed to, y’know, because you weren’t the original owner of the necklace, but I suppose it’ll have to do’. 

‘The wall’, Nagito muttered next to them however, as he’d been quiet the entirety of the story. Souda snapped his gaze towards him, but Ouma looked at him a little more carefully. ‘What did you say?’, is what he asked, the childish tone gone. Nagito’s eyes widened and he sat back, putting his hands up a little defensively as he chuckled awkwardly. ‘Excuse me, I wasn’t aware I was thinking out loud. Don’t let trash like me interrupt you, haha…’. Shuichi already got a little uncomfortable by this, and Kazuichi facepalmed himself, muttering  _ must he always get like this when Hajime is not here  _ under his breath as he did so, but Kokichi simply jumped at him. ‘Tell us, tell us!’, he chirped, sounding excited as though he was a child, and Komaeda cleared his throat awkwardly, trying to keep Ouma at arm length distance as the boy was crawling closer to him and would probably pull onto his hair. 

‘The… the rock wall of the gap in the mountain. It holds two strange openings that would fit exactly the two pendants, I think… I-I’m sorry if that’s wrong, just call it a lucky guess’, the white haired male explained, his bony hand no longer able to stop Kokichi from jumping onto him and playing with the white strands of hair, tangling them and pulling them to get more poofy so his head would look more like a cloud than it already did. Saihara didn’t even bother to stop him, since he was getting used to this, and it almost felt as at home as it did in their own little mountain house. The bluenette remembered something like a small gap between the rocks, as though there was an opening somewhere, so he figured that was what they were talking about. He had heard that Gundham and Kazuichi also frequented that open place behind the mountains, as it was built for the four of them to live. That was possibly how he found it, but with more eye to detail, he’d figured out before Nagito could that the forms being carved into the harsh stone were linked to the two identical necklaces. 

‘I know this piece of land used to belong to Lavender Kingdom’, Kokichi said, kicking his legs excitedly. ‘Before it was called that way, even. Wow, those boring history lessons finally start to matter a bit!’. Shuichi hummed, trying to figure out what that could mean. Someone from Lavender Kingdom, a wealthy woman, had visited Kazuichi and his father to give them this. Did it have to do with fate again? After all, the kingdom kept reminding the bluenette of this. Maybe fate was bound to it in a way, and it was an interesting thought. Perhaps he would have to ask the parents of Ouma if he ever saw them again and convinced them being a witch wasn’t the worst thing you could be, if they had any idea. 

‘I think the mountain will only open itself when the pendants come together, so…’, Souda trailed off, humming quietly as he seemed in thought for a moment. Then he got up from his seat, and scratched his head again. His hair was starting to get messier by the minute basically, and it looked like it had taken him a lot of effort to tame to begin with. ‘I think Gundham and Hajime can probably handle whatever he wants from us this time on their own. Right?’, the pink haired guy continued, and the three of them nodded, a little excited to see what was going to happen. After all, in a world were witches and demons were a thing, Shuichi could only guess what wonders he would be able to see. 

Still, as they told the two guys that were busy filling bags with several things that they were about to take off, Shuichi’s face fell a little as he started to think more, and his pace of walking over the makeshift pavement that would lead them to the mountains again slowed a little, making him get behind of the group that was more than a little excited to find out what secrets the mountains could hold. The cold breeze of winter time didn’t make his thinking process any better, only leaving him to guess what was correct and what was simply a plague his mind brought upon him without mercy of the cold weather that was able to make one’s thoughts darker of nature than they used to be. 

‘Hey, Saihara-chan’, the bluenette heard a calm voice next to him, as Kokichi Ouma skipped over the small and rocky sand of a pathway, nudging the taller male next to him with an elbow as he glanced up at him, but mostly kept his eyes focussed on the small journey that lay ahead of them. Shuichi could say that he was a little grateful for this, as eye contact wasn’t really something he liked all too much so to say, definitely when his mood was getting worse. ‘You’re stuck in that dumb head of yours. What’s up?’. It was a way for the purplenette to show that he cared, even if he wouldn’t say this out loud. No, he was a prince, a cruel one that wasn’t called a parasite by the entirety of his village before leaving him to burn at a stake without mercy for nothing. His face, as sweet and innocent as it could look, hid a lot of knowledge and skill, and perhaps that too was despised. Shuichi tried to avoid this train of thoughts at all cost however, because he simply wouldn’t be able to get over the fact how unfair the experiences had been for the former prince. 

‘I was just thinking... ‘, Shuichi started, a hand placed at his chin and tracing the underside of his bottom lip. That was easily said. He was always thinking. But still. ‘I mean, Souda has every right to be weary with the little bit of information he has on the object he had to hold and protect, right? What if his gut feeling is right? Now we’re accepting the fact that I own the necklace, but what if I wasn’t supposed to?’, the aspiring detective rambled softly, soft enough only for the purple haired male next to him to be able to hear. It wasn’t information he would hold back from Souda or Komaeda who were walking in front of them, leaving a small gap of nobodies between them, but he wouldn’t want to intrude on their own sudden optimistic look at the situation. ‘I mean, Kiibo bought this, so technically, it’s his. I don’t want to start something that wasn’t supposed to be started by me’. 

They were nearing the mountains and the tunnel that separated the outside from the impressive self made structures that hid behind it. ‘Well’, Kokichi said after a while, his face a bit blank as he had to think over the possibility as well. After all, he couldn’t deny that his way of thinking was fairly logical. ‘He gave it to you, didn’t he?’, the prince continued with a hum, again glancing at the taller male next to him. ‘I don’t think if he felt like he wasn’t supposed to, he would have gifted it to you in the first place. It is not an everyday gift, I think’. Shuichi nodded, but bit his lip. He could only hope this didn’t turn out wrong for him. 

It was only a matter of time before they reached the set destination, and Shuichi let out a shaky breath that he didn’t know he was holding as Kazuichi turned back to him, gesturing for him to come over and into the tunnel that brought back memories of his first time coming here. He had immediately noticed, even with the somewhat lack of light, the strange small shapes that were carved into the stone and the gap between them as though there was supposed to be some sort of door there. The bit of sunlight that reached into the tunnel made Shuichi able to notice that indeed, the shapes were the same ones that the pendant of his necklace carried, and he bit his lip a bit. Both Nagito and Kokichi stepped back, looking at both of the pendant-carriers with some strange innocent look, one that portrayed the fact they couldn’t know what they were getting themselves into with only this. 

Kazuichi took off the necklace he was carrying close to his heart, chuckling awkwardly. ‘It feels strange not wearing this anymore, but ya know. Life goes on, I guess. Here goes’, the guy spoke before holding the metal close to the stone and trying to figure out the right way to push it in. Once he found it, the thin chain necklace was ripped off by his own hand so he could push the somewhat round form forward into the opening. It fit precisely and a ‘click’ was heard by all of them, subtle but not subtle enough to look past. Now Shuichi supposed they expected him to do the same. His necklace had been bound by a leather string, one that contrasted his skin nicely, and yet he hadn’t worn it often. Now he felt somewhat strange towards having to get rid of it. It was as though he was getting rid of his memory of Kiibo, and that was unnatural in a sense too. He now wished he’d worn it more often once he left his hometown, but sadly enough, he couldn’t turn back time. So he too took off the necklace of his own, loosening the string and taking the pendant from it. 

Carefully Shuichi pushed the metal object into the gap that was on his side, spurred on by the looks of Ouma and Souda, his fingertips grazing the smooth surface one last time before he could press further, and they heard yet another click. A gasp left the four of them, as they waited, quickly stepping back to view the rock wall in front of them. They could hear something that would be described best as the noises a clock could make, once all the mechanical parts started to get in gear and made a promising work of music to their ears. And yet, after they waited even until this mechanical masterpiece was over… nothing had changed. 

‘Did something go wrong?’, Shuichi asked carefully, being the first to speak up, clearing his throat quietly. Kazuichi scratched his head, trying to think of something smart to say, but it seemed as though he gave up fairly easily. ‘I don’t know what ta tell ya dude’, he spoke with a huff, ‘it’s not like it came with a manual or something’. Kokichi stepped forward, looking at the three men behind him and blinking at them innocently, smiling a bit. ‘If no one’s got any better idea, I will risk my life myself, then!’, the boy chirped happily, before he stormed at the rock wall, hearing the gasps and protests behind him as it was a very stupid idea; after all, neither of them had seen what was going on there, and perhaps it had been a trap after all. But still, like a door, as Ouma pushed against the surface with both of his hands outstretched, he managed to reveal the opening, with a soft mutter of ‘that was anticlimactic’ when he was done. 

And reluctantly, the four boys entered the new opening into a somewhat lit new tunnel that seemed to end in a separate room. The walls were older here, they could easily tell. There were marks on them as though it had endured quite a bit of struggling, making the atmosphere a little dull. They watched their surroundings with interest as they walked through this newly revealed hall, praying that the big door wouldn’t close shut behind them, which it didn’t seem to do. The curiosity and fear for where they were was quickly stilled though as soon as they reached the actual room that this was all about, and even Shuichi’s mouth fell open at the sight in front of them. 

Hundreds, thousands, maybe even  _ millions  _ golden coins and pieces of gold were stacked in different piles that reached up above their eyes, and shimmered under the light that shone on them. Gemstones lay hidden in between those piles, sandwiched in the gold and reflecting the deep red or green or white they carried themselves. As far as their eyes and vision could reach everything was filled in piles and piles of gold and precious stones, precious vases and silverware so now and then. It was as though they stepped into the story of a pirate once they had finally found their treasure, and they couldn’t help but to step further into the room to inspect it. 

Some sort of pathway had been made in between the piles of coins and other precious objects, that led to the end of the room where almost a little hidden in the shadow Shuichi could see a next object to baffle him. There, on a stand, was an entire armor, delicate and made out of what looked like silver and iron, but as he stepped closer and touched it, it felt much lighter. It felt like the metal his necklace had been made out of. A chestplate was decorated and showed an elegant setting of a battlefield, and the helmet holding some extra chain mail was to protect the face from anything that could disorden it. Every single lethal point of the body was covered well, and it seemed to have been made so that joints could be easily moved, to not disrupt the fighting. It was genius. A weapon lay beside it, a sword, and even though reluctantly, Shuichi picked it up. It was light as well, and fit his hand quite nicely. The leather part of the handle was rough enough to stick to the hand a little, but not rough enough to hurt when you used it. And even after the many years it must have been here, it was still very much sharp and useful. 

‘This is amazing’, Kazuichi whispered in awe next to him, still eyeing the silver and gold around him, as he hadn’t been aware it had been inside of the mountain all this time. And yes, it was true. It was amazing. This must have been hidden for a long time, only now to be opened, judging by the musty smell that hung around the room. It seemed to be a hidden treasure of a kingdom, perhaps of Lavender Kingdom. Shuichi knew that the king and queen could be a bit careful at times, but to go these lengths, must have meant that fate definitely had something to do with it. It couldn’t not be. He was convinced, that the story that Rantaro had once reminded him of, the one with the birds he used to listen to as a little kid, that it maybe had a hint of truth to it. Perhaps the king and queen had already known that Lavender Kingdom could fall. 

And yet, there was the thing about the necklace not actually belonging to him at first. That was what clouded the bluenette’s judgement to take this and use it for themselves. Instead, he opted to turn towards the others, to tell them ‘Half of this belongs to Kiibo, and the other to Souda, I think’. After all, if Kazuichi’s earlier worries or doubts were somewhat useful, Shuichic didn’t want to know what would happen to them if he selfishly decided to keep a part of this for himself. So even though Kokichi and Nagito were surprised to hear this, they understood what he meant. They would have to go and get Kiibo here to see for himself, and take in what he deserved to have. Shuichi supposed it would be somewhat of a crazy and pleasant reunion, where he granted the white haired boy a fortune. The aspiring detective snickered quietly, imagining the almost robotic boy finally showing a hint of humanity once this would be presented to him. 

‘Even though I think you do deserve your part’, Ouma said, straightening the collar of his shirt as he leaned back and looked at Saihara, ‘I understand your concerns. So if you want, we could go to bring the news of a new fortune to Kiibo tomorrow morning’. That’s how the purplenette offered to accompany him on his trip, and Shuichi smiled at him gratefully. Things started to seem like they were slowly fixing themselves, and old questions were being answered. Things were going well, basically. He took Kokichi’s hand, nodding. ‘Thank you’, the boy muttered, meaning so much more than that, and judging by the blank loof of Ouma, he understood as well, as he gave a small nod in return. Shuichi was positive he even saw a tiny hint of a blush, although the former prince wouldn’t ever believe him if he were to tell him about this. 

The clicking of high and stately heels was heard a lot through the castle nowadays.  _ Click, click, click _ , they’d go, day in and day out, but definitely at this hour. This hour where the heads of Tsumugi Shirogane’s improvised army of citizens were present and ready to report on their missions. There were three, one of which she had been the most proud, Mukuro Ikusaba. The woman was so awfully plain just like she had been, but she was definitely the most talented out of the bunch. Maki Harukawa had been downgraded to scout as Tsumugi didn’t feel like she could fully trust her, even if the woman didn’t completely get to know this was a downgrade at the moment. The trick of keeping a kingdom going for as long as she could to create the biggest destruction possible in the end, was to keep the citizens on a thin line of hope and fear, both creating the complicated and beautiful work that was despair. Not knowing what to hope for, and if there is anything to hope for. 

‘And?’, Shirogane asked after a small while of pacing around wordlessly, eyeing the woman with the short black haircut, almost as neat as her subtly lined eyes were. Tsumugi knew that under those layers of clothes were scars, scars of battle and scars of sorrow, that would betray her past towards those that looked close enough. As perfectly calm as she seemed, as imperfectly chaotic had her life been. The energy that this created around the girl, a determined yet confusing one, was one that Tsumugi basically fed on. The white dress shirt and the black bottoms to show a politically clean person, it was a beautiful facade to hide the fact that little miss perfect was a big broad mess inside of that skull of hers, one exploding the biggest amounts of despair one could find inside of a person. 

Mukuro nodded once, not looking the blue haired princess in her eyes. If she even were to call her princess, of course. It basically was queen now, now that she had taken over after disposing of the actual king and queen of the castle. ‘Yes, ma’am. The town has been successfully taken down by our men. Only four losses of our own’, is what the general muttered, blinking and tilting her head to the side just a little bit. There was supposed to be a hint of sympathy in that sentence, and yet she couldn’t really place it. 

Tsumugi clapped in her hands, jumping up a bit as she cackled softly, a shrill sound of a laugh that echoed through the halls, getting emptier and emptier as other servants were punished and sent away or became imprisoned for the tiniest of mistakes. Even Chihiro, that in shock of what he had seen one day upon entering the kitchen and finding a dead body had dropped the silverware he was carrying, was now behind bars to understand what he may or may not have caused with the chain effect of happenings after he decided that his own safety had to be prioritised. And now he had enough time to think if maybe, perhaps, he’d been wrong. But thinking wouldn’t change the past. 

‘Excellent!’, chirped Shirogane, folding her hands together. ‘I think it’s going to be time for you to lead your people north, past the mountains, take in the land’, she continued, pushing her glasses onto her nose.   
  
Mukuro blinked, stepping back only a little bit, somewhat bewildered. ‘My apologies, your majesty, but that is Togami’s empire. I am certain that if we even set foot in there, we will be dead meat by just a second. Togami’s army is well trained and professional’.   
  
Shirogane tilted her head, her lips pouting a little bit. They were getting a darker color. ‘Are you denying an order, Mukuro-dear? I think you know what I mean when I say take in the land. It means exactly the same as I plain-fuckin’ told ya’. 

‘But what if the prince, prince Ouma comes back?’, Ikusaba muttered, still expressing her worries about this subject. She couldn’t help but to wonder what would happen to all of them if they were to come back, after all. The boy had quite some will power.   
  
Tsumugi grinned, a wicked grin, as her teeth seemed to sharpen by the second. Locks of blue hair twirled through her open hands as she threaded her fingers through them, making for pink locks of hair to start to appear, taking over her scalp until all she could see was a blonde type of pink covering the woman’s frame. She took off her circular glasses, and with a swift motion, they were thrown across the room, creating a dull sound of glass shattering once they landed.   
  
‘Oh, well, ya know’, Junko Enoshima commented sweetly, folding her arms together as she rocked on her heels excitedly, ‘let them come!’. 


	21. Bloody Witch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The only thing the scent reminded him of was opening his eyes after being knocked out from behind, to find his arms bound behind some type of stake, and the eyes of a dosen citizens he knew by face but not by name standing around him to watch the show as a match was dropped onto the wooden pile he was standing on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Yes I'm late hhh sorry, not doing too well.  
> Also, I'm not that great at writing emotional things, so sorry if this chapter sucks. 
> 
> Trigger warning: (background) character death
> 
> (dw this is not the end of the story)

Shuichi Saihara was somewhat familiar with horses and their ways of moving, as when he was younger he joined his uncle from time to time with a ride on Usami. He actually missed him quite a bit, even though they didn’t see each other often anymore. The animal was a lot nicer to him than the people in town were, after all, and he was far more classy. A life inside of the castle wasn’t that big of a problem for Saihara after all because he secretly adored the castle life, even if he wasn’t going to actually be a part of it; he was going to be a servant for the rest of his life, only to admire the royals from afar. That didn’t matter much. He had nothing to lose back then, even if it maddened him that his parents would make decisions so big for him without letting him know until it was too late. Now things were different. He had a lot to lose, mainly, something that right now was sitting behind him, clasping onto his back nervously even though he pretended not to be bothered at all.  
  
Kokichi Ouma didn’t know much about horses. He’d seen them so now and then, and once he was forced to sit on one by his parents, but that was a decision they quickly regretted. Ouma had managed to upset the beast so much that it fought to get him off, and the experience was quite traumatic. He’d been in the nurse’s office with that weirdo Mikan for more than a week afterwards. Doctors too kind of scared him now. It was safe to say he had managed to upset her just as much as he upset the horse, although she didn’t have hooves to kick him with; she did have her ways to make him shut up for a while, and it wasn’t progressive for their relationship. He kind of admired her as well, just like people that managed to sit on a horse without being kicked off of the monster, but that was something that Ouma would never admit to thinking. 

‘O-Oh god’, Kokichi sputtered as his nails sunk into the sides of Shuichi, hearing him hiss softly. The prince pushed his face against Saihara’s back, contemplating whether or not to kick him as he heard the bluenette snicker. Going with the decision of taking the horse that Hajime and Nagito kept with the other animals simply because that would make their travel take shorter, had been a horrible idea. Of course Kokichi wasn’t going to show the fact that he was afraid or anything like that in front of his friends. Not if it was a true fear, after all. 

‘Easy, we’re not even going that fast. She can galop a lot faster, right, Future?’, Shuichi muttered lovingly as he ran a hand through the manes of the animal. He wasn’t that experienced in riding on the animal either, and since he told the former prince this, the purplenette felt even less safe. The road was bumpy and harsh, and it was a different one than they had been on before because they wanted to travel to Saihara’s hometown without having to go through Lavender Kingdom with the risk that they were going to be put right back at the stake again. Either way, feeling how the surface underneath him was uneven and how he had to hop up each time, afraid to slide down the buttocks of the ugly creature he was sitting on and to get kicked in the face in the process, was not Ouma’s favorite way to spend a winter morning. 

The day before having to explain what they found to Hajime and Gundham was quite an experience, so to say. With Tanaka’s interest in anything that wasn’t basic and normal, he immediately insisted on going to the mountain as well to see what was inside himself, calling himself an expert; not exactly like that though, as his wording made it seem more like he meant he was some type of god or something like that. Shuichi supposed that was normal for him, as Kazuichi only facepalmed himself when this happened, and told the male with the mismatched eyes that they would go first thing in the morning if he’d let their ‘poor visitors’ go for now and stop all the questions on what they did and didn’t touch and his thorough investigation to see if the treasure had cursed them or some other nonsense like that. At least he was kind enough to care for them. 

Explaining to Hajime that he wasn’t going to keep the gold and silver to himself had proven to be a harder task. During dinner Shuichi had told the brunette about it, as Kokichi and Nagito were having some sort of one sided banter on Ouma’s side which the white haired male kept apologizing for. Hinata had told him that it was a stupid idea to give it all away, as they could very well use it, and Shuichi understood this. He knew that Hinata and Komaeda could definitely use the treasure for their house and for their way of living. It would make things a lot easier on them, and to be quite honest, the bluenette felt bad for not being able to grant them the Future. If it was his own, he wouldn’t have hesitated to; after all, there was nothing he himself could use it for. He didn’t have a town or a place to call his own anymore, except for the one that was gifted to him by Nagito and Hajime. He wouldn’t have even dared to deny the two males of the gold if it had been his. But it wasn’t his. It was Kiibo’s, and even if that was debatable because the guy had basically gifted him the key to this Future, Shuichi wasn’t keen on risking a curse on himself by making use of what may have been not his. Right now he had enough quarrels with fate to busy himself with; he didn’t need a potential curse to add to that. 

Even if he didn’t completely understand it, Hinata respected their wish to travel back to Shuichi’s hometown to get Kiibo. He was curious to meet the guy that Saihara seemed to think fairly high of after all. All of the guys were; after Saihara explained to them some things about where he got the necklace from, or who had granted him the necklace to be correct, the guy was of high interest to the three of them. Kokichi of course had heard his name from the bluenette’s lips before, and he had heard some small stories. He would’ve been glad and excited for this travel as well, if it weren’t for their current situation. 

‘How long is the travel?’, Kokichi asked, his voice soft as his grip on the bluenette tightened once the road got less steady again. The scent of lavender around him was a little more sour again, and Shuichi could note that he definitely wasn’t enjoying this, but perhaps a part of Kokichi’s personality had infected him as he couldn’t help but to see the humor in this situation. ‘I’m bored’, Ouma continued with a groan, butting his head against Shuichi’s back, and hearing him hiss as this apparently wasn’t a great thing to feel near his ribs. Now was Ouma’s turn to smirk a bit, even if the smirk fell from his face as Future made a strange movement with her legs. Now the purple haired trickster was sure that the animal could hear them and was conspiring against him together with Shuichi. 

‘Don’t worry. It’s supposed to be just one road we need to follow. We’ll get there soon enough’, Saihara told him calmly, deciding to spare him the idea that the trip may take more than an hour or so still. Luckily they’d descended from the mountains already, because that had been Hell for the smaller guy. ‘Isn’t your last name supposed to mean horse?’, blurted the aspiring detective then, remembering how uncomfortable the prince had seemed. He figured that Kokichi would have many different types of training back at Lavender Kingdom being the heir to the throne and all, and since royals seemed to travel by horse a lot, he guessed that Ouma must have been able to do so himself. Yet as soon as he had eyed the animal, even before Shuichi could pack the supplies that Nagito and Hajime had granted them to take with for their travels, he already sensed the death threatening glare that Kokichi gave the beast. Although Saihara had expected there that was simply how the purplenette greeted anyone that wasn’t able to tell on him. Apparently he had been wrong. 

‘You’re a meanie’, Kokichi complained, poking Shuichi in the side. The bluenette squeaked and almost lost his grip on Future, which made for Ouma to let out a cry as well as he was scared they were both going to get kicked off. The prince gulped. He wasn’t going to be able to pull through this horrendous experience if he wasn’t going to get some distraction, so he pouted, kicking his legs a bit as he tried to think of something to get his mind off of stuff. ‘Hm. I remember you told me about your asshole parents, but you never really tell me about the town you were born in. Is that like… top secret stuff?’, Ouma asked as he rested his head against the boy’s back again, leaning into him mostly. It wasn’t hard for Shuichi to tell that he wasn’t really that interested, but he smiled a little bit nonetheless. 

‘Oh well, the town I used to live in is really average, is all’, Shuichi explained, humming. ‘It’d be boring to you for sure. How about _you_ tell me something about yourself for a change?’, the bluenette changed the subject to the other, raising a brow as he was actually interested in the history of Kokichi Ouma. So far he didn’t really go in on that. The former prince only told stories about himself that Saihara knew not to fully believe since the trickster loved lying and bringing life into stories in that way. All other things he knew about Kokichi were mostly told to him by other servants around him. Those he wasn’t sure whether to fully believe either, as they were very… opinionated so to speak. He wouldn’t ever be able to know what exactly was going on in the prince’s mind during times where he acted out on people around him; Shuichi only knew the stories from other points of views. 

‘Oh well, I could tell you, but then I’d have to kill you’, Kokichi chirped, reaching out a hand to pet Shuichi on the head. His blue hair was soft but a little unruly at the moment, as he hadn’t taken any time to make it presentable this morning. As soon as Saihara had woken up in the bed he shared with Kokichi and unwrapped his limbs from himself, he’d been nervous and excited to go back and meet with Kiibo, so he barely took the time to eat his breakfast. Ouma wasn’t that excited with the knowledge of the travel that was about to come, and he basically had to force the bluenette to sit down and calmly eat so he wouldn’t choke on his food.   
  
‘You always say something like that’, Shuichi sighed softly and shook his head, as he still felt the small smile that was plastered onto his lips. He held onto the reins he used to be able to guide the horse they were traveling with into the right directions a little tighter as Kokichi’s arms wrapped around his waist instead of clutching onto his back. The small arms of the prince were warm, even through his shirt. Saihara could say that he didn’t know what they were right now, not to each other at least. He knew what Kokichi was to him, finally he did and he enjoyed knowing this. He just wasn’t sure what everything meant to the purplenette, even if he could take a guess. ‘Well, then it must be true, don’t you think?’, Ouma retorted softly, his face close to the male’s shoulder. He wasn’t shaking as much as Shuichi would’ve guessed from someone that was supposed to be afraid at the moment, and yet he didn’t expect any less of the purplenette. Perhaps it was in his mind, but in the soft settling sun he could almost see the purple reflection of Kokichi’s lavender tinted hair, as though the smaller guy was in charge of it all along. That would not have come as a surprise to the bluenette either, now that he thought about it. Kokichi could’ve owned the universe for all he knew, and things wouldn’t change at all. 

‘If it’s hard for you to speak about, there is no pressure’, Shuichi murmured to him. There was no need to lower his voice; they were alone. The road had developed into a smaller path that went almost unnoticed with the tall grass that grew around them, coming up to at least their knees at some points. On their left side Shuichi was faintly aware that the wall of Lavender Kingdom must have been some miles away. He didn’t want to look at it, though. For some reason the idea that if he didn’t look at it, it wasn’t there, still ran through his mind as it would like through a child’s. His mind liked to betray him though. Faintly he could smell a burn, and he was almost certain this was a made up scent by his own brain, trying to warn him for the stake he would return to immediately were he to try and return to the kingdom that he’d grown used to over the course of months. 

‘That’s not it’, Kokichi promised him calmly. Shuichi could feel that the male moved his head, noticing the change of pressure against the fabric that hid his shoulder away from the coldth. ‘I just don’t care for telling you, or anyone else for that matter, the truth about it’, the former prince continued. He grew silent after, although Shuichi could still feel the rising and falling of his chest against his back. If he closed his eyes and focussed real hard, he probably would have been able to hear his breathing apart from the flowing breeze around them that brought off flocks of snow so now and then which would attack their faces. Kokichi being small and all was shielded by the other male in a way that gave Shuichi a strange feeling. The thought of the two birds was on his mind. Was it the blue one’s tail that had seemed to be in front of the purple one’s, or was it the other way around? He was fairly sure he remembered something like that from the drawing in Rantaro’s old book. One of the books that had been burned, that was right. Maybe he remembered wrong. It was something about a cross. 

‘Zoning out on me already? You really are boring, shumai!’, Kokichi puffed as he punched him softly in the back again. Shuichi blinked, sitting up again and shaking his head a bit, ridding himself of the chain of thoughts that made no sense. ‘If you’re gonna keep on punching me, I’ll let you walk the whole way by yourself’, Shuichi warned him sternly, chuckling quietly as Kokichi started moping a bit after that. He could only imagine the expression that must have been on the little gremlin’s face as thick tears started to roll down his cheeks, soaking into the clothes that Shuichi was wearing. He supposed it was revenge. ‘S-Saihara-chan is such a meanie! I can’t believe I ever let you have your way w-’. ‘Stop that sentence right there, or I am not just setting you off the horse, I will _kick_ you off of it’, Shuichi grumbled before the words could roll off the guy’s tongue, hearing him snicker and sighing with red cheeks. 

Even if Kokichi was a pain in the ass sometimes (and Shuichi must have been glad that he didn’t think about this out loud or Ouma would’ve definitely commented on that use of proverb), the aspiring detective was glad as well to be able to share his past experience of a hometown with the guy. His memories weren’t great, but the place was a part of him, and that was what mattered. It didn’t matter that he was going to be there for the littlest amount of time he possibly could, it mattered that Ouma was somehow involved in his past as well like this. It fit with the image he had of the guy. Before they left the castle he wouldn’t even have wished to be able to share something so intimate with the male, but changes in surroundings change the man, he supposed. Saihara was pretty sure that he would find his hometown exactly the way he left it months ago, so it wouldn’t be hard to say goodbye to once again. 

This hunch that was based on his logical intuition turned out to be completely false, however. And false in the worst way possible. 

‘Are we almost there now?’, the smaller guy whined softly for the so maniest time this morning which had now turned into midday already, tugging onto the clothes of Shuichi where his hands found themselves at the moment. The bluenette was busy petting Future’s manes that so now and then seemed to find themselves simply in his hands, twirling around fingers. It was almost a calming gesture. ‘Yes Ouma-kun, and we won’t get there faster if you keep complaining’, Saihara responded the exact same as he had the ten times before. He didn’t even blink as this was followed by a deep sigh from the former prince himself. Saihara supposed he wasn’t used to waiting. However, he didn’t expect what he said afterwards. ‘Great, because it smells like someone’s holding a big barbecue feast somewhere here, and I’m getting _really_ hungry, so we better be able to stop somewhere you can make me food’. 

The last comment about Shuichi having to make him food would’ve managed to get some type of kick out of the bluenette usually, as he no longer was his servant and therefore no longer felt like he needed to be spoken to in such a degrading way, but as he carefully sniffed the air he noticed that Kokichi was right; there _was_ a burning smell, even if it seemed faint and far away. Actually, now that he thought about it, he’d noticed it before, and that was a long way back. It was getting stronger, that was what he could conclude. But the scent his mind didn’t exactly link to a barbeque or anything of the sorts; after all, Shuichi never had the pleasure of being able to partake in such a festivity with neighbors, no. The only thing the scent reminded him of was opening his eyes after being knocked out from behind, to find his arms bound behind some type of stake, and the eyes of a dosen citizens he knew by face but not by name standing around him to watch the show as a match was dropped onto the wooden pile he was standing on. All he could remember were his feet burning, the fire nipping off his legs and his trousers that were almost completely shredded. 

Shuichi’s face snapped forward to watch their destination, and Kokichi could sense how he tensed at this. He knew they were almost reaching their end goal, and he was aware of the road that split to the left of them where he’d traveled over as his uncle had brought him to the kingdom he’d spend multiple months before being chased away basically. Of course, back then he hadn’t known any of that. Back then he figured he’d work at a castle like some poor servant until he was greying and useless. At least useless in the sense of work; his uncle was getting quite grey as well as old age was coming for him, but he was a far more reasonable man than his young parents would ever be. 

‘Shuichi-’, Ouma tried as he noticed how the pale boy gripped harder onto the reins, but it was too late as Shuichi pulled them harshly as one would, as they slipped down in a waving motion and made a noise once they reached the fur of the horse. Kokichi could feel the surface underneath him getting less steady and he let out a shriek as his arms wrapped themselves tightly around the bluenette’s lower body, snaking his arms around him in a way that the aspiring detective could still use his own as the horse sped up, her legs striding far faster than Kokichi was used to ever travel. ‘O-oh by the l-love of god, s-slow down!’, Kokichi cried, terrified as his face pushed into the back of Saihara. He couldn’t hear him though. The scent of fire was getting closer, and subconsciously the prince understood what was going on in the bluenette’s mind. 

Shuichi leaned his upper body forward a bit as he’d seen his uncle do once or twice when he made Usami galop; it had been exciting to behold as a kid, but now Shuichi didn’t get to feel the excitement as much of bringing this in motion himself. His nose picked up on the scent of ash. He leaned forward more than before, a dynamic position as Future’s legs kicked them forward, hooves placing themselves harshly on the pebbles every step and making the small stones and parts of dirt fly up around them where she went. Kokichi was leaning into him and the weight only fueled Saihara to speed up more, calling for the beast to speed up as he ignored Ouma’s terrified cries. The smell of ash, of fire and of burning wood came closer. The smell of death came closer. Shuichi’s eyes stayed as wide as they could be as particles of dirt blew up and into his face, teasing his eyes to close so now and then and for little tears trying to clean out his eyes to form on his face. The scent became almost unbearable. So did Shuichi’s desire to reach their destination simply to be able to show himself that nothing was wrong but his ideas. Unfortunately, this was one of the times were he wasn’t wrong, and he wished that he were.  
  
Kokichi had his eyes shut tightly, and he was pretty sure that he was marking the bluenette with bruises from how tightly he was holding onto him. He was surprised that the guy was still breathing. The sound of footsteps and the harsh wind that hit him in the arms and made his hair flow back uncomfortably had Kokichi groan quietly in agony, when suddenly, the beast they were riding came to a stop as Shuichi moved to sit up and straightened his back, tugging onto the reins as though he was trying to stop a beast twice as big as this one was, and managing to almost send Ouma flying backwards; if his grip on the taller male hadn’t been as strong as it was, Kokichi would’ve been laying in the dirt with possibly many dislocated limbs sprawling about the ground.  
  
Kokichi coughed, his throat tightening for some reason. His chest felt heavy and for the moment he wasn’t really that interested in pulling his usual tricks or playing the little mind games he loved. ‘Shuichi-’, he rasped, pausing only a beat as he noticed how strained he sounded, and he was fairly sure this wasn’t simply the work of his fear. He cleared his throat, and pulled his face back from the bluenette’s tense back, blinking as he pushed his hair back so it wouldn’t be stuck plastered onto his face anymore. He wanted to continue this speech and ask the taller male what the Hell had gotten into him to do something as outrageous as he had done without even a little warning or mercy, but as soon as Kokichi’s eyes had gotten used to the sunlight shining into it and reflecting for him what he was supposed to see, his mouth closed involunteraly, only to open later on with a small ‘Holy fuck’. 

The path they were on led straight to a town, and he could only suppose this was the town where Saihara used to live. In the distance he could see the multiple houses all built close to each other and giving the impression of a packed city, but that wasn’t what immediately caught his attention, no. It was the destruction. 

A thick layer of smoke came from the city, ash frittering and raining from the sky that was tinted a soft see through grey. Red, large monsters of flames licked the underside of this smoke, dancing about and feeding on the houses that were made largely out of wood, perfect to play their part as fuel. Stone lay crumbled even up until the path as he could see; those weren’t simply pebbles. Big gaps there were seated in the houses, unnatural ones, and the crackling of the burning city was all they could hear for the moment. A harsh clang caused by the church’s bell that fell to the ground followed, and faintly Kokichi could see Shuichi flinch at this, although he saw it happen; the building crumbled down as though it had been hit by a brute force. And certain shadows, certain forms and lumps in the distance reminded Kokichi an awful lot of what were supposed to be humans walking around right now, choosing what to eat and telling their kids not to touch the windows of every place they could find simply to draw little flowers and smileys on the fogged up glass.  
  
Shuichi seemed to be in a trance as he saw this. He made for the horse to calmly walk up the path that led to where the place began, and he could feel Kokichi grip onto his back again as soon as they passed the first body. Shuichi was silent, but Ouma could feel him shake under his touch. It smelled fresh, he supposed. This couldn’t have been done earlier than a day before, perhaps only a certain amount of hours. The despair they could smell made their minds feel mushy and like they might melt any second now. The place was hot, hotter than it should have been on a winter day. Windows were broken, weapons and makeshift weaponry was scattered across the ground. They were only on the outer part of the city now, and Shuichi could only guess how bad it must have been in the center where houses were not so strategically placed even closer to each other. Where the Church had crumbled, the one so very close to the bar he used to frequent with Kiibo, although he wasn’t so sure if the bar was in a shape to ever be frequented by anyone again. 

‘Kiibo!’, Shuichi gasped as he was snapped out of his trance when he remembered the original reason why they had traveled all the way here. As he sped up Future again, Ouma didn’t dare to complain. ‘We’ll find him’, Kokichi promised him, his voice wavering a bit. Of course they’d find him, that wasn’t the problem, Shuichi thought. It was just a matter of whether they found him intact or crumbled to pieces like the church was, its bell having fallen to the ground as soon as they arrived and making the horrible sound of a broken city simply to antagonize them more.  
  
Ouma noticed the remains of what once he supposed were a garden, kept with nice plants, trees and grass cut to perfection as though a lot of attention went into it, when Shuichi stopped the horse and wasted not a second to jump off of it. Even in his haste he turned to Ouma, holding out his arms for the former prince. The look on his face was the closest to a horrible desperation that the purplenette had ever seen, and he could notice how much Saihara was trying not to break down at the moment, brows up but furrowed, eyes wide but eyelids tight to keep water from flowing out, lips trembling but pressed into as much as a firm line as Shuichi could muster. And he held out his arms for Kokichi to take them, simply to help him get off the animal even though he had far more important business to attend to right now; finding his only friend in this damned place and making sure he was alright. If Ouma’s face turned blank from admiration for his beloved at the moment, Shuichi didn’t notice when he lifted the former prince off of Future to place him on the ground. 

With shaking hands Shuichi managed to pull on the door handle that would lead them into Kiibo’s living room, where usually there would have been some scent of freshly made tea and the sight of the white haired male himself reading whatever book he had lying around to see, although right now Saihara gulped at the memory as his eyes had to be shut tightly just for a moment. It wasn’t locked. The handle felt cold, very cold, and Saihara hated it. His memories that had to do with the white haired male and his girlfriend were anything but cold, so it wasn’t right. He wasn’t going to lash out on a door though, not right now. Not when Kokichi was with him to watch his sanity slowly crumble down. Like the church. 

They were in fact met with a living room as soon as Saihara manned up and managed to pull open the door. It wasn’t the way that Shuichi could remember it to be, though. The nice rug that he could still remember being intrigued in as he wasn’t sure where Kiibo could’ve gotten something like that with the small amount of money he would’ve obviously spent on it (flea market had been the explanation) was burned, and certain liquid stains of what the aspiring detective supposed must have been tea were hardened in it. Windows were broken in this house too, and pots and other decorations of the place lay scattered over the floor. Saihara held his breath as he could see how the cushions of the couch, the very ones he’d managed to find together with Kiibo on a small trip to the center of town, were torn open, the stuffing coming out in several spots as though something had been stabbed into it. In short, what used to be a perfectly clean and neat place was now almost a warzone. 

‘Kiibo?!’, Shuichi dared to call out for him with a wavering voice. He could hear the steps of Kokichi behind him as the purplenette too entered the building and cursed when he stepped into glass. There was no response. A warm hand slid into his own cold one. Shuichi noticed his body tense up, although as he looked next to him, the expression on the purplenette’s face, the blankness, it couldn’t have been forged. He too was worried. They needed to find the guy, they had to. 

Leading the way through the place, Shuichi pulled the both of them forward, reaching the kitchen. He had to divert his gaze, not able to see the porcelain prizes of plates and cups that Kiibo had loved so much even if his girlfriend teasingly called him a sissy for it or something of the sort, broken as much as the house had been. As he did so though, his gaze fell on the stairs that were connected to the back part of the kitchen. Dark spots, dark crimson smears of something he could only speculate had almost become a part of the wooden steps. The bluenette stepped forward, fingers touching the wood. It wasn’t wet anymore, but somewhat sticky. It had been there for a while, but not for too long. ‘Kiibo…’, Shuichi muttered, feeling a familiar but very worse than usual panic rise up. 

‘Jesus’, Kokichi muttered as he too saw what Shuichi’s gaze had fallen on. He didn’t even dare to remind the blue haired male of the dangers there might have been upstairs once he managed to make himself walk up those stairs, trembling hands gripping onto the guardrailing that Miu had made into the wall so her boyfriend could rest assured of the fact she wouldn’t fall down the stairs in a drunk mood. The stairs creaked as much as they used to, but right now the sound felt as though every creak a nail was pushed into Shuichi’s throat, making him unable to call out for help. He continued his travel though, with the presence of the former prince behind him. He could scent the dull lavender smell, dull of both fear and amazement, not the good kind of amazement, at what had possibly happened here. 

At the top of the steps was a big white door that Shuichi remembered seeing once or twice before. He believed only the bedroom that the two partners shared was behind that door, since most of what they needed was placed downstairs, and they tried to make as much use of the small space they had as they could. The white door now had smudges of a brownish red, close to the doorknob. Saihara had to shake his head. He wasn’t sure what he was going to find, but he wasn’t going to like it, that was for sure. He didn’t want to do this, really. He could still turn back and pretend that he hadn’t seen any of this. He could pretend that everything was fine. He’d deal with a curse of using gold that perhaps didn’t belong to him, he’d deal with that just fine. Who said there even was such a thing? Nothing was certain, and it didn’t have to be if he didn’t continue this foolish behavior right now. He didn’t need to see this, not at all. He could pretend.  
  
However, the boy knew he couldn’t really. So reluctantly his hands pushed against the door, opening it with an agonizingly low creaking sound. Damn old buildings. 

Shuichi let out a small cry as a hand wrapped over his mouth once he pushed himself to step into the room, eyes watering. Kokichi blinked, following him. He was quiet. Dead quiet. Quiet in a way that Kokichi Ouma shouldn’t get, not when Saihara was around at least. But who could blame him? He didn’t even know this guy, and yet a despairing feeling settled in his stomach as well at the sight of him. He supposed it was Kiibo laying in the bed, the white hair matching his description. Hands were clutching onto his stomach where he was wearing a poor excuse of a shirt. Now they could be certain that the crimson red stains had been his; liquid was seeping through the poor male’s shirt still, staining the bed and his hands. And yet, eyes blinked open, revealing blue irises that were trying to hold onto life the best they could, but getting a duller color every second that the clock in the room ticked away. 

‘Kiibo!’, Shuichi whisper-yelled out as soon as he realised he was still alive, rushing to the side of the bed. His hands wrapped themselves around the man’s hands, ignoring the warm blood that smudged his skin at this action. Kiibo’s eyes widened but only a bit. ‘S-Saihara-kun, what.. are you doing here?’, asked the male. His words were slurred a bit and he sounded drowsy, which was only logical with the blood loss that he definitely suffered. Only for a moment did the white haired male’s eyes meet Kokichi’s, and for perhaps the first time in his life did Kokichi avert his gaze with nothing to say. His lips trembled too. ‘Who’s.. that? Wh-Why did you come back?’. 

‘Kiibo, what happened?!’, Shuichi pressed, his eyes begging for him to do something he couldn’t; turn out okay. Kiibo tensed physically, and it seemed as though he had to cough, but he didn’t. Instead, with a somewhat hoarse voice he spoke up. ‘Lavender Kingdom’, he explained, his voice monotone in a way that almost made him sound like a robot. Still, he was in pain. There was no doubt about it. If he would show this however, Saihara would definitely break down, and that was for no one an ideal progression of the moment. ‘I’ve heard most of the stories’, Kiibo continued, closing his eyes and focussing on his breathing for a moment. Shuichi’s hands tightened over his. ‘I was worried… you didn’t get out of it alive… I’m glad to see you again’, said the white haired male then, managing to give a small smile towards his friends. Saihara couldn’t bring himself to return it. Thick tears rolled down his cheeks, he was aware, but neither of the other men in the room mentioned it. 

‘Lavender Kingdom has been expanding their.. borders’, Kiibo continued, looking to the side. His eyes stared into Kokichi’s. This time he didn’t avert his gaze. He couldn’t, not when this hit as close to himself as it did. ‘I suppose you are the, what did she say.. prince?’. Kokichi nodded once, giving a forced smile that did not reach his eyes. ‘Nice to meet’cha. I suppose’, he trailed off, biting his lip. Ouma was good at a lot of things, but this wasn’t exactly how he’d imagined meeting a friend of Shuichi’s that the bluenette seemed to think very highly of, and he couldn’t help that he felt on edge. As Kiibo tried to sit himself up, he did cough this time, and Shuichi’s eyes and Kokichi’s eyes both widened. The purplenette stepped forward, holding out his hands in a denying fashion. ‘Easy there charmer, I’ll come greet you down there’, he said, his voice wavering more than he wanted it to. Strangely enough, Kiibo smiled a bit. 

‘Why would they slaughter the entire town?’, Shuichi asked, his voice soft and in disbelief. He brushed some of the male’s hair out of his face. Kiibo was sweating. He seemed as though he was going to have a fever soon. If he even managed to reach that point of sickness, of course. ‘Why would your parents do that?’, Shuichi whimpered, face snapping towards Ouma. The prince was at a loss of words too, the amount of pressure and uncomfortableness he felt only growing. ‘Wasn’t them… some woman’, Kiibo said, shaking his head. One hand reached there, as though he was hurt, but quickly was placed back onto his stomach with an embarrassed and painful hum as he realised he needed to keep his pressure. ‘M-Miu had seen her. Light hair, craziest eyes she’d ever seen, she said’. 

‘...Where is she, Iruma-san?’, Shuichi asked after a small moment of silence, knowing he probably didn’t want to know the answer. Kiibo only shook his head. The three of them again ignored the choked sob that came from Saihara. ‘My parents? My uncle?’, his small voice, small and timid as Kokichi remembered it had sounded when he heard him enter the castle, small and timid as it had sounded when he’d asked about his parents and what they’d done to him, small and timid in a way that the prince hated; it was painful. Again, Kiibo only shook his head. ‘N-No one, Saihara-kun’, mumbled Kiibo, voice wavering as well. His eyes gave away how tired he really was, but he forced himself to stay talking. 

‘We should take him back to Hinata’s and Komaeda’s place’, Shuichi suddenly said, standing up and straightening the coat he was wearing. His eyes seemed empty, so very empty, and he was holding himself from truly breaking down once more, but little fractions of the mess that was inside of his mind right now slipped through so now and then. ‘Shuichi…’, Kokichi trailed off, watching the white haired male bite his lip and close his eyes, breathing harshly. He didn’t want to say it to the bluenette, he couldn’t do it to him, but he was sure that he understood as well. He didn’t want to understand, surely, but he still did. ‘No’, Shuichi said, his voice less steady again. ‘No, we’re taking him with. Hinata-kun knows how to deal with injuries, doesn’t he? We should go now’. The aspiring detective nodded, but he didn’t believe it himself either. 

‘Saihara-kun, you know that’s not going to work’, Kiibo spoke up from behind him. He’d managed to sit up a bit himself. Liquid was gushing through his fingers, and Saihara snapped his gaze towards him again. He got on his knees to lean next to him, holding his own hands over his again. ‘It will work, it _has_ to work, we’re going. C-can you stand?’, asked the aspiring detective, hands shaking. Not just his hands. His body was. ‘Shuichi, we can’t-’, Kokichi tried, but he wasn’t heard as Saihara rammed through with his own question. ‘Kiibo, can you s-stand, _please_?’, he asked again, shaking the male a bit. His eyes were wide, but not hopeful. Ouma had seen that face before. Heck, he’d even worn it. Shuichi wanted the impossible. 

‘Saihara-kun, you know I won’t make it’, Kiibo muttered to him. His voice was weak, and he flinched as Saihara stomped down like a child would. ‘Shut up! You’re going to make it!’, he cried, pulling onto his arms. He wasn’t just trembling anymore. Kokichi was scared, actually scared as he saw how wildly the poor boy’s body was shocking, shocking at the motion of his own waterworks. Shuichi Saihara shouldn’t yell, he didn’t do things like that, but he’d raised his voice because he couldn’t help wanting to cry, wanting to scream and wanting to trash this place worse than it already was if only it could help him get his way. His impossible way. 

‘I’m glad I could see you’, Kiibo told him. His throat sounded dry, so very dry. He probably hadn’t drunk anything in a while. It was a wonder he’d had the strength to pull himself up to his bedroom to be able to lay somewhere comfortable. Kokichi shuddered at the realisation that Kiibo was probably aware he was going to die, but wished to do so in a comfortable spot. ‘D-don’t say that, we can get out of here, right now’, Shuichi whimpered, his voice growing softer as his cries did, still shaking Kiibo’s hands a bit. The wound was big; the liquid was seeping further into Kiibo’s shirt than it had before. ‘If you had come any moment later..’. The purplenette chuckled, remembering how he’d wanted Shuichi to slow down the horse on their trip to this place. The laugh was humorless. No one laughed with him. 

Kiibo closed his eyes. Shuichi shook his head frantically, shaking the boy again. ‘Don’t, please don’t, Kiibo!’, the bluenette demanded in vain. Kokichi sat with him now, placing both hands on the male’s shoulders, and squeezing softly. They were tense. ‘Saihara-kun’, Kiibo muttered. His hands slid down his stomach, freeing the gap in his clothes and giving his system free reign to let loose, thick crimson blood having dried up in places already, but still streaming in others. Shuichi’s eyes widened, and his own hands shot out swiftly, pressing against the wound to close it off with a small ‘stop!’. 

‘Saihara-kun… you need to help the people.. in Lavender Kingdom’, Kiibo continued. His voice was soft. It was almost gone, really. ‘They’re going too far… they won’t make it when they try to take down Togami’s empire’, the male rushed, breathing growing weaker. ‘Stop, you’re tiring your body Kiibo, c-come on, let’s get you up and o-out of here’, Shuichi said again, shaking his head. His sight was blurry as he had to look through watery eyes. ‘You can save the kingdom, I know you can’, Kiibo continued, blinking again, although as soon as those light blue irises showed themselves, he closed his eyes again as though his head was hurting from the light. 

‘Saihara..kun.. prince... Ouma....’, the male muttered again. His hands were trembling just like Shuichi’s were. He was scared. Of course he was scared. ‘Can you.. talk to me?’, Kiibo asked, breathing turning more shallow than Kokichi had ever heard. The prince kept holding onto Shuichi’s shoulders, pressing the usually taller male a bit closer to himself. He felt how Saihara almost drowned in his protective hold; perhaps it had been a good idea to give some type of support to the male. ‘Talk? a-about what, Kiibo? You’re… you’re hurt, really badly, you need to come with us’, Shuichi told him with a small whimper, a despairing one. Ouma knew what he meant, though. One of his hands reached up, and held onto Shuichi’s face softly, cupping him in a way and keeping his head against his chest where he was sitting. It was a one sided embrace that Saihara seemed not to mind; he held onto it as if it was the only thing keeping him sane right now. And like Kiibo asked, Kokichi began to talk.   
  
He talked about the kingdom, where he’d been with Shuichi. He talked about the garden there. Shuichi was silent, a thumb brought to his lips. It had been a habit of his when he was very young, and he hadn’t done anything like that in a long while, but it brought him comfort as he watched the white haired male relax, and a smile was set on his face as Kokichi told him about Gonta, their gardener. ‘You would’ve loved him’, Shuichi whispered at some point, making the bluenette break down into tears and soft hiccups again, although he kept listening to Ouma’s soothing voice talking about all the good memories. Kokichi told Kiibo about the house they stayed at with Hinata and with Komaeda, and he told him about the treasure that they were going to bring him. About the necklace that Saihara had held onto for him. About how they’d laughed and about how they’d helped out each other. All the good parts. All the parts that mattered. 

‘Beautiful…’, Kiibo whispered, voice low, quiet and slow. ‘That is… quite beautiful. Thank you’. He drew a soft breath. Then there was silence. The clock in the room ticked away, and that was all that the boys could hear. Kiibo’s fingers relaxed as his hands opened almost as a reflex. He didn’t shake anymore. ‘Kiibo..?’, Shuichi mumbled after a little while, closing his eyes. No response. Never again. 

Kokichi was more or less expecting Saihara to scream. He was expecting for the boy to burst into tears again, to trash the place or to grab onto Ouma’s shirt and to bawl into his tee. He was expecting Shuichi to be heartbroken and to be done, like he’d seemed before. Instead, the bluenette stood up, and ignored the small stream of water that was still traveling down his cheeks. ‘W-we have to go back’, Shuichi said, his voice a little raspy. Kokichi could understand why that was, after having cried for a while now. ‘We’re going to go back to Lavender Kingdom, and we’re going to kill that bloody witch’.


	22. Back to Lavender Kingdom

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘I’m just saying that the woman and the kingdom are not our responsibility, Saihara-kun, and they have to figure their shit out for themselves’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> Omg? Me finally again showing difference in personalities and ways of thinking? As well as loosely following a somewhat able to follow storyline that uses things I've said before? Now that is a treat. 
> 
> On a more serious side, sorry for making you all wait so long every chapter. Right now I'm in the middle of a test week and I'm very stressed, but I've been able to relax a bit by writing. I don't think updates will get quicker, so again, sorry for that. Also sorry if the chapter sucks, but since I say that every time, just see that as a constant thing rn. I need to work on my self esteem a little lolol. Anyway I hope you can have fun reading. 
> 
> TW: Just be aware of the tags etc.

_ ‘We’re going to go back to Lavender Kingdom, and we’re going to kill that bloody witch’. _ _   
_ _   
_ Shuichi had been silent after those words left his lips. He didn’t even glance at Kiibo’s body before leaving the room, and leaving Ouma baffled there with him. He could hear the footsteps of Saihara descending the stairs without waiting for the purple haired prince to follow him. Shuichi had set his goal now after he found one, and there was nothing that could stop him from reaching it. The idea made Kokichi flinch, and he stepped closer to the limp body of Kiibo, laying still on the bed. Seeing a dead person had always been a strange experience. Ouma could never get his head around the fact they weren’t just sleeping.   
  
‘I know you probably meant well’, Kokichi heard himself mutter to the corpse, eyes closed for a second to draw a deep breath. As he reached down, the hand of Kiibo was already growing colder than it had been. The room stank of blood and despair, and it was getting harder to breathe in there. ‘But I can’t let him do this, so I’m sorry’, the prince continued in a low voice, squeezing the hand in his fingers. He hoped he’d get a response back, a little thing to help him clean his conscience. He was going to stop Saihara from doing something so heroic and so absurd that he’d get himself killed. Because he needed to. Because it was his job to do so, he supposed. If no one else was going to do it for him, anyway. And it was going to be hard, but someday Shuichi would thank him for it, so it was worth it. Disobeying a dead person’s last wish was however not something Ouma wished he’d ever have to do. 

As Ouma left the house without another word, he noticed Shuichi holding onto the reins of the animal they came with. She was still standing there and looked at the prince as though she knew what he had to say, and was judging him for this fact. He couldn’t help but to huff at her. It seemed that Saihara noticed his presence now, for he looked back, a face blank. It shouldn’t have been blank, because that was Kokichi’s thing to do. Kokichi was the one that needed to hide his true feelings and that therefore wasn’t sure how to express them at vulnerable times, even though he was starting to learn a bit during his time being around Shuichi. Saihara was a warm person and he was so very easy to read, even when he tried his very best to lie during a card game or anything of the sort. His face was like a nice painting, easily smudged and easily altered yet always just as beautiful. And yet, he was showing nothing. It wasn’t right.   
  
‘I-I’m going to tell Hinata what we need once we get back, and we’ll go to Lavender Kingdom first thing tomorrow. We still need to figure out how to get inside of the castle and how to take care of the witch, but that’s fine’, Shuichi startled the small ramble, slowly but surely showing more nerves as he did so, although it wasn’t like he was trying to convince himself that he could do this. It was more as though he was nervous for the future that he felt was fate now, fate like the two birds chirping at him and laughing in his face as the skin near his feet was melting under the warm heat of a fire started by a horde of people filled with fear, and Kokichi understood. Yet at the same time, he did not.   
  
‘Shuichi’, Ouma tried to intervene in his speech, even as he was helped up and swung his leg over the horse, getting on the back of Future and managing to sit back enough to grant Saihara space to climb on as well. The bluenette wasn’t listening though. ‘I’m sure I remember some of Amami-kun’s books and what they said about witches like Shirogane, so if I take the time to read my notebook again, I’ll figure out what exactly we need to do. You’re very creative as well, and I feel like you’ve dealt with her before-’, Saihara continued, with shaking hands tugging on the reins in his hands and making for Future to move, away from the broken down and empty town.   
  
‘Shuichi, listen..’, Kokichi said again against his back, arms not snaking around his body like they had before, but instead bracing themselves against the boy’s back. He couldn’t help it. He didn’t want to add taking over the bluenette’s personal space to the taking over his plans, which he wasn’t going to like either  ‘Besides, even though she is a witch, she’s mortal, so it shouldn’t be too hard to get rid of her. Once we’ve done that, and find your parents, they’ll know how to take care of the kingdom and we’ll be back on our way, and everyone’s happy that way, right? so-’, Saihara completely ignored the purple haired prince, until he snapped. ‘Shuichi!’. 

‘What? What’s wrong?’, Shuichi asked, glancing back at the smaller male that moved a little uncomfortably where he was sitting. Fortune was still moving quickly like Shuichi wanted her to. The plan was to reach their home back in the mountains as early as possible so they had the night to prepare for the travel they would have to make in the morning. It was already getting late as they entered Kiibo’s house, and right now the sun was beginning to set already, hiding behind the cities that littered the land in the west, although those were starting to vague already the further away the boys traveled, back to the mountains. Stars were already starting to show themselves in the dark blue tones of the sky, and even though a sun had been shining just seconds ago, the winter truly was the coldest time of the year.   
  
‘Listen, I know this is hard for you’, Ouma started very carefully, clearing his throat, and trying to focus on the words. It was hard having to take away something of his beloved that he obviously really wanted to do, but it had to be done. Right now Kokichi wished that he’d never agreed with Shuichi so easily to give the treasure back to Kiibo. He selfishly wished they’d stayed with Komaeda and Hinata and that they would’ve spent it on their homeplace and that they could live their entire lives without knowing anything about the happenings in Shuicih’s hometown. They’d speak once or twice a year, probably during christmas and the beginning of spring, about visiting his old friend Kiibo, and Kokichi would tell him they’d do it soon, but it would never happen. They’d grow old and grey together, and they’d live in peace. Ignorance is bliss. Nothing had ever sounded so true. ‘But I can’t let you do this’, the prince continued, biting his lip afterwards.  
  
‘What do you mean?’, Shuichi asked. His body tensed. Of course, he probably knew exactly what Kokichi was implying, or he was figuring it out in his head, ‘cause the man wasn’t stupid. ‘Shuichi, I’m not going back to that kingdom, and I’m not letting you go back either’, Kokichi continued, grip on the male’s back getting harder as he felt his hands sweat a little even in this weather and he was afraid he’d slip off of the horse. For a second they were basked in the sounds of hooves and the silent sound of surviving crickets and little animals that still lived throughout the winters in the grassy lands. ‘...What?’, Shuichi’s voice sounded eventually, a little silent. It almost fitted perfectly into the atmosphere. If Ouma closed his eyes, he could pretend he was back in his bedroom and listening to the sounds of winters as he was trying to fall asleep. 

‘Listen, Shirogane, or Enoshima, or whoever she’s disguising herself as right now, is way too powerful for the two of us to take on. We’d never even make it even into the castle. It’s no longer our concern’, Ouma explained his point of view, the words tasting gross on his tongue. He didn’t want to be the one that had to see the logical side of the argument, but if Shuichi’s life was at stake, and not to mention his own, he supposed he’d go through with it. Of course, he hated Shirogane, and if he saw her face to face right now it would be on sight, but he wouldn’t drag the bluenette into something that had nothing to do with him, or at least wasn’t  _ supposed _ to have anything to do with him.   
  
‘....No longer our concern? How could you say that?’, Shuichi’s voice trembled as he spoke, and Kokichi shut his eyes tightly as he listened to the male, pretending that he was still allowed to hold onto him as intimately as he’d once done. Shuichi sounded betrayed, and fuck, did Kokichi hate that. ‘I’m just saying that the woman and the kingdom are not our responsibility, Saihara-kun, and they have to figure their shit out for themselves’, Ouma mumbled. Even with the wind blowing in their faces and the sound of Fortune’s harsh footsteps, they could both hear the words. ‘Kokichi… that’s  _ horrible _ ’, Shuichi said shortly, and the sentence cut through Kokichi’s chest like a sharp knife would. ‘Sometimes the truth  _ is _ horrible’, Ouma responded as calmly as ever in contrast to what he was feeling.   
  
‘How come  _ you _ get to decide what the truth is?’, Saihara told him, his voice still shaking with betrayal, and it was something that Ouma wished he could leave behind never to hear again. ‘Shuichi, think about it, you’re going to die if you try to fight that witch’, the purplenette tried to reason with him, ignoring the attack at his way of speaking lies by the blunette. ‘So?’, Shuichi spoke, voice lower than before. Future was walking slower than Saihara wanted her to, but he wasn’t in the state to do anything about it. He was slowly getting more and more annoyed by the stance that Kokichi was taking. ‘Who are you to decide that my life is worth more than all the others in Lavender Kingdom? If it were us in there, wouldn’t we want someone to come save us?’.   
  
‘This is different’, Kokichi tried, freeing a hand to scratch his neck, a habit that Shuichi had shown before whenever he got nervous. The purplenette wasn’t quite nervous, that wasn’t the word for it. ‘How is it different?’, Shuichi challenged, words sharp as they could be. Ouma drew a breath, his gaze lowering for no reason in particular. It wasn’t as though the bluenette could physically look at him, but still it felt as though he looked away on purpose. Ouma didn’t want him to. He wanted for Shuichi’s eyes to be on him, to show how he was feeling through these mean words, but they weren’t. Perhaps it was selfish to ask for, as well.   
  
‘It’s different, because we will not be able to beat Shirogane’, Kokichi groaned softly, a little bit of frustration running through his veins.  _ Not with that attitude you won’t  _ his friend Kaede would’ve probably said, but he’d rather not think of her at the moment. ‘But there’s a chance we will, though’, Shuichi reasoned, clearing his throat, and keeping his eyes on the road. Not that it was that interesting, though. ‘And if there’s a chance we can save that town from the destruction Shirogane is going to bring it, I say that we should take it’.   
  
‘We don’t owe that town shit!’, Kokichi snapped, voice raising a little higher than he wanted it to, but it was too late to do anything about it. ‘Ouma!’, Shuichi snapped back however, even though his body tensed at the loudness, ‘you can’t talk like that about living, breathing people!’. Ouma let out a tasteless laugh, shaking his head. He knew his glance was dark, and that Shuichi could most definitely feel it staring at the back of his head, but ignored this fact. ‘You seem not to remember these are the same  _ “living, breathing people” _ that watched us burn at the stake, and did nothing to even try to save us either. Or was that just for the sake of the town as well, huh?’, the tension loaded words of Kokichi filled the air, making all else quiet for just a little moment. The wind started to work against them harder. A sour scent of lavender hung around the purplenette. 

‘They were afraid, Ouma’, Shuichi mumbled after a little while. ‘You can’t blame them for being afraid’. ‘I’m not blaming them for being afraid, Shuichi-dear’, Kokichi tutted, tilting his head. If it weren’t for the fact they were traveling, he was very sure he would’ve intimidated the bluenette far worse than he did at the moment, and although that hadn’t been his first intention, if it would work to keep him safe, he’d roll with it. ‘I’m blaming them for being pathetic cowards, just like my dad all over again’. ‘Shut up’, Saihara whimpered, shaking his head. His hands that held the reign of Future were getting paler at the knuckles. ‘Don’t be like that’.   
  
‘Be like what, huh? Be like what?’, the guy provoked back, almost spatting the words. He wanted to turn back, but he couldn’t really help it. Being cruel had always been a defense mechanism. ‘Being honest? You want me to lie again, Shuichi? Then sure, I appreciate Lavender Kingdom and all its silly little bastard residents. Is that what you want to hear from me?’, he cooed sickeningly horribly, and Shuichi ignored the sickness that welled up in his stomach from that alone.   
  
‘They’re people! You can’t let them all die over a stupid grudge you hold against them!’, Shuichi whined back, pulling harder onto the reins. He wanted to get home as soon as possible, if he could even call it home. ‘They’re our friends! They’ve helped us and you’re going to let them all die?’. ‘None of them are your fucking friends, naive little Saihara-chan’, Ouma chuckled humorlessly, grinning, eyes darkening by the second. Shuichi could feel the storm coming, he could feel the drops of water sharp like little needles fall down on him and he could hear the air getting wilder, but he shook his head at it. He couldn’t tell whether he was disappointed, afraid or filled with despair. Perhaps a mixture of the three of those. ‘Or are you forgetting Fujisaki-san, who ratted you out the second he looked past your disguise? They’re afraid of us, all of them’.   
  
‘He didn’t know any better!’, Shuichi retorted, gritting his teeth. ‘Do you think he would’ve done this if he really cared about you? Do you, huh?’, Ouma hummed sickenly sweet again, planting that little seed of doubt inside of the aspiring detective that didn’t want this. Definitely not from someone he trusted, even though he was not to be trusted. ‘Ouma’, Shuichi said shortly, blinking as he ignored the tears he felt well up by himself. ‘These people don’t deserve to die, that’s what I’m saying. Whether you agree with it or not, I don’t want to be responsible for their deaths. I don’t. I don’t want to lose more friends and family’.   
  
‘If you see the folk of Lavender Kingdom as family, you’re more stupid than I thought you were’, Ouma snarled harshly. If he wouldn’t have fallen off the horse from letting go of Shuichi, he wouldn’t have hesitated. The idea alone made him gulp quietly, but fortunately or unfortunately at that, the bluenette didn’t hear. ‘I see  _ you _ as family, Ouma-kun’, Saihara replied, voice almost as weak as it had been before. ‘Don’t’, Kokichi warned him, but Shuichi didn’t listen. ‘And whether you like it or not, you lead back to Lavender Kingdom. We started this mess, and we’re going to finish it. We need to help them’.   
  
‘We didn’t start shit! They’re not worth your life, stupidhead! They’re not worth anything! They can’t claim your life, they’ve tried to kill you! Can’t you get it through that thick skull of yours that your stupid heroic actions won’t be rewarded in any sense, but will just end up getting you hurt either way? Don’t you understand that even  _ if  _ we were to win this battle, we’ll just be right back at that stake with no one left to save our asses? Shuichi, we are  _ not  _ going back there just to get you killed!’, Ouma raised his voice against all odds, feeling the bluenette shrink before him. Not good. But nothing else could be done about it. He had to understand, Kokichi needed for him to understand. He didn’t care what happened to that town. Sure, it sucked that some innocents would die. But they did horrible stuff to him, and they did horrible stuff to his beloved, and he would not let Shuichi die for something like that.   
  
‘I don’t care that you fear becoming a king’, Shuichi shook his head slowly, grip tightening around the reins he was holding. ‘Fear is a funny thing, that’s what you said, wasn’t it? It can make nice people do horrible things. But I won’t let you do a horrible thing like leaving a whole kingdom to waste’. ‘It’s not about becoming a king, dumbass’, Kokichi grumbled, letting his forehead fall against Shuichi’s back. The bluenette ignored it. He could feel his body shock a little under his touch, and he hated it. ‘I don’t want you to die’, Ouma muttered under his breath, hands again gripping onto the back of Saihara’s shirt stronger than they had before. ‘I can’t let you die’.   
  
Shuichi grew silent at that, and so did the purplenette. They were already getting higher up on the ground, Future dragging them up into the mountains, and the both of them were getting rather tired from both the long travels and the events of that day. ‘Ouma-kun…’, the aspiring detective mumbled, but he stopped himself from continuing the sentence. He wasn’t sure what to say. What was there to say, after all? That he didn’t agree with the way the prince was thinking? That he found his wish to be with Saihara to be a cruel one if it meant they had to sacrifice a city for it? People were going to die, people like Kiibo that had friends looking out and waiting for them, people that wouldn’t even be buried after the town was burned to ashes, simply because no one could reach them and they wouldn’t be able to be distinguished from fallen chunks of stone and bricks. And Shuichi could easily say he didn’t value his own life over those people’s, although it was unfair to ask Kokichi to feel the same. So instead, the male swallowed his words, to think of better ones.   
  
‘Ah..alright then. I suppose I understand how you feel’, Shuichi started carefully, starings straight ahead of him. ‘Perhaps it’s a stupid idea’, he continued, trying not to cringe at the words as his jaw tried to set, forcing it to relax so he could speak with ease. Contradictory to the male sitting behind him, Shuichi himself was a terrible liar and couldn’t lie to save his life, but since the boy wasn’t able to look at his facial expressions and since he was tired enough perhaps not to fully be taking everything around him in, Saihara hoped he was at an advantage and that the purplenette would buy it. ‘That’s what I was saying’, Ouma muttered. His voice sounded solid and free, no longer shivering. The aspiring detective couldn’t tell whether or not that was a good thing. ‘So.. we’re not going back for the kingdom?’, asked the former prince carefully. Shuichi could feel his eyes staring into his back as though he was trying to read his body language, and quietly he gulped. ‘Nope’, he easily popped out, refraining from biting on his tongue. ‘We’re not going back’, he lied. It was half a lie, he supposed. So half truth as well.   
  
Ouma tilted his head, and glanced at the back of Shuichi’s head. He seemed a little unsteady, and his hands rubbed over the reins he was holding. They were close to home, and the sudden rise in energy in his body was maybe therefore not that strange, but still. However, the male sighed, and let himself lean against Saihara’s back, humming into it. ‘Thank you, Saihara-chan’, he told him, genuinely. Shuichi cleared his throat, glancing back, and seeing the top of the male’s head, purple hairs bouncing up in a way where they reached his neck, typically something he’d see in the mornings when the two of them would wake up next to each other. It’s become a routine that the both of them would feel too weird to let go off. ‘Of course’, added the bluenette to the conversation, closing his eyes for a second. If Kokichi wasn’t coming with him, he’d go alone. Perhaps that was safer, since the male didn’t want to risk his life anyway, so Saihara should be the only one to do so. ‘Of course’. 

As they reached the house up in the mountains, and let Future back into the shed she loved to spend her winters in, Hajime opened the door for them as swift as a worried mother calling back her children from playing on the street would. ‘How was your trip? Where is Kiibo?’, the questions already fired away at them, and Shuichi bit his lip, shaking his head a bit. He didn’t want to think of the death and destruction right now. He’d get to think about it during his trip to the castle, of that he was sure. Right now he needed to focus on what to bring, and what to leave behind. Luckily for him, Kokichi answered the questions for him, and shortly so, shocking the brunette to hear of the news.   
  
The males were made a nice dinner, courtesy of Nagito after understanding that they definitely needed some rest after those horrible events, and could return to their room pretty early in the evening. Without looking at Kokichi, Shuichi looked for his own sleepwear in the closet and pulled off his sweater, replacing it with the softer shirt he’d sleep in. He could hear how the smaller male sat on their bed, legs probably kicking as they usually did, and watched him, but he ignored it. Those purple eyes he adored were prying into the back of his head and trying to get some information from him, but he didn’t speak either. Not until Shuichi was standing up with his back straightened out, and heard Ouma jump back onto the wooden floor, bare feet patting towards him.   
  
Before Shuichi could turn around, arms were wrapped around his lower body, and he was pulled into a one-sided embrace that made his face heat up a little. Ouma’s face reached his shoulder and leaned against it, his soft breath tickling the skin near Shuichi’s neck, but he only huffed softly in response, folding his arms over his chest. ‘I know Saihara-chan is having a difficult time’, Kokichi muttered to him, softer than he normally would have. It was genuine if not laced with a bit of something that the blue haired male didn’t fully grasp. ‘So… I forgive him!’.   
  
Shuichi’s eyes widened and he turned to the liar that pressed his lips into a thin line, but a bit of a smirk was already forming on those lips, and Saihara’s brows furrowed. ‘Forgive me? What?’. ‘Yeah! I forgive you, for being a little bitch! Now hug me, because I’m cold’, Kokichi chirped happily, jumping onto the bed that groaned even with his little bit of weight. It would only be a matter of time before they would crash through the ceiling with Ouma’s antics. ‘Asshole’, Shuichi grumbled under his breath, shaking his head. Still, as he heard that nasal laugh he’d grown used to, he couldn’t help but to smile a little bit against all odds. He meant well, Shuichi knew that. Shuichi adored that. He flopped down onto the bed next to Kokichi, feeling the mattress bounce a little underneath him, and hearing the purplenette gasp dramatically.   
  
Not that much later, quiet snores of the former prince filled the room, his chest rising and falling where he lay comfortably against Shuichi, an arm wrapped around his body loosely. The latter was looking up at the ceiling, listening to the rhythmical sounds of the boy next to him breathing, and feeling how his heart beat softly where Kokichi’s chest met his side. He didn’t know the other as an early sleeper, but silently checking his calmed down pulse, he was almost certain that he truly felt exhausted after the whole trip and every stressing event. He had every right to be tired, Shuichi supposed. The male felt a bit of guilt for having to lie to the liar himself, but he ignored this as he carefully slid the smaller male’s arm off of himself and sneaked out of the bed.   
  
During dinner Nagito and Hajime had wondered what they’d do with the treasure and everything that came with it, but they hadn’t talked much about it and Saihara knew why. Obviously they understood they shouldn’t talk much about something like that when a friend of his died, but it wasn’t like they ever knew him, so he supposed that he wouldn’t have minded if they did exactly as they pleased. It was as though the name of Kiibo was one none of them wanted to name after the news, and although it was cruel in a sense, he was also glad they spared him the extra tears. Saihara supposed he didn’t talk much right now and during that slightly awkward dinner at all, but that wasn’t all that strange, since he usually talked less as he was focussed on a plan. 

He remembered the moment back when they entered that cave to the fortune that awaited them very vividly. Everywhere the eye could go he would be able to see a piece of gold, silver or another precious gemstone, piled together and making for a beautiful sight to behold. Not just coins, there were objects as well, and that was what was most important in this memory. Shuichi remembered some sort of pathway through all this treasure, one that led to an armor stand with the most well made pieces of armor he had ever witnessed. Even Kokichi’s training-wear didn’t live up to it back at Lavender Kingdom. It had been made of the same metal as the gifted necklace had been, light and yet very strong, geniusly crafted to be able to freely move in. And besides that lay a weapon, a sword, as sharp as it could ever be and a nice thing to hold in the hand.   
  
Kokichi may have thought that he was stupid for going back to the kingdom, but Shuichi was smart enough to understand he wasn’t going to be able to live through this at all if he didn’t have some type of weapon. The pitchfork that he’d seen Komaeda work with once or twice before wasn’t really going to do, as it was heavy and rusty and probably wouldn’t be able to even scratch the swift lady. But the sword, that would be perfect. Even though Shuichi didn’t know anything about sword fighting, but that was besides the point, because he didn’t expect the woman to know he was going to come back to attack her. That would be his advantage. Besides, like Rantaro had told him a while back about witches like her,  _ they can’t directly kill anyone that is human.  _ If she didn’t see it coming, she couldn’t plan to manipulate anyone else to get rid of him, and she wouldn’t be able to do it herself. Even though it wasn’t bulletproof, his plan reached far enough to get him to kill the woman he was supposed to kill.   
  
Getting inside of Lavender Kingdom without being caught was a whole other problem, but even that he’d thought of. The wall wasn’t too high and there were certain openings, but he was pretty sure that definitely after their escape from the stake there would be surveillance of some type. If he was right though, the kingdom was kind of a mess right now, so at the same time they wouldn’t want too many of their men to be watching the wall. Climbing the wall was his safest option. Getting through the small village would be a thing, although he figured he could also take the other way around, but that would make him stand out too much. He could blend in with the villagers, but that would mean he’d have to play some sort of role, and sadly enough he wasn’t as good at that as Kokichi was, and he couldn’t exactly ask him for tips. 

Shuichi shook his head, and carefully dressed himself back into weatherproof clothes. The rest of the plan would come later, he just needed to get to the armor and see if he could take any of that, while getting the sword with him. If he woke anyone, he’d have to explain what was going on, and that wasn’t really anything he was waiting for right now, so silently, he sneaked down the stairs after making sure to close the creaking door behind him as carefully as he could. There lay a carpet that led to the kitchen, and from the kitchen he would be able to get to the back door, where he’d go through to go to the mountain where the treasure was kept. He reached the floor and blinked to get used to the lack of lighting, being able to make out the different furniture in the livingroom and where the front door came into view. He had to go the other way, though, so he turned to where he knew the kitchen was. As he stepped forward, the floorboards creaked, and he cringed a little bit, stopping himself from going further and waiting for a noise. Nothing. Ouma was still asleep. That was good.  
  
More steps. Still no one. A sigh of relief left the boy as he finally reached the kitchen door, and stopped in his tracks as he saw the cat with her pretty fur that was looking at him curiously from there. Lucky. ‘Ksshh, go away’, Shuichi whispered quietly to her, waving her hands at the small animal. She stood up, and straightened her back, tail up in the air, making it swish a bit. Her paws made a soft ticking sound where nails hit the wooden floor, and Saihara closed his eyes tightly. He’d never been as aware of noise as he was right now. She moved towards Shuichi, and purred, but fortunately didn’t mew, before nuzzling her head against the bluenette’s leg. Shuichi again let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as it didn’t seem like the cat was going to rat him out.   
  
Then he heard the bedroom door of Hajime and Nagito open with a soft creaking sound, and the patting of bare feet of one of the grown men moving into the kitchen.   
  
The lights flickered on, and Shuichi felt himself stand still as though he was stuck to the floor with cement as soon as he heard that dreadful sound. At some point the thought that if he stood very still, perhaps the other wouldn’t notice him ran through his head, and the childish way of thinking brought him back by the purplenette he left upstairs to be lied to.   
  
‘Ah, good morning, Saihara-kun. It seems I’m not the only one who is a troubled sleeper’, Nagito’s voice sounded, a little hoarse from probably just waking up, white hair being even more unruly than Shuichi remembered it to be springing free as he ran a hand through it and moved to the sink. ‘Do you want some water?’. The male wasn’t questioning why Shuichi was standing there, baffled, and as though he’d just been caught doing something illegal, besides being fully dressed and ready to go. ‘It helps against the sore throat- ah, but don’t let trash like me keep you from doing what you need to do’, Komaeda chuckled softly, taking a glass from the cupboard. A very long shirt he was wearing which reached to almost his knees, in a way it could have been a dress, served as his nightwear Shuichi supposed, and for some reason it fitted the other.   
  
‘....What do you mean, doing what you need to do?’, Shuichi muttered, keeping his voice low even though it wasn’t that necessary. Being in the kitchen meant being far away enough from the room upstairs where he hoped Kokichi was still sleeping soundly. Nagito hummed in response, coughing softly and turning on the water faucet, which made quite a lot of noise, again having Shuichi cringe a little bit. ‘I figured you’d go back to the kingdom, no?’, Komaeda told him, blinking as he looked at him. The slight aura of crazy around him often hid the intelligence that was a part of the guy as well, and Shuichi gulped quietly. ‘Oh, but of course, that was just an assumption- someone like me should not assume things, my apologies, Saihara-kun’, Nagito said quickly with a tired smile, turning back to his glass of water that was filled enough, and turning off the waterstream.   
  
‘It’s alright’, Shuichi responded somewhat awkwardly, watching the white haired male lean against the counter. ‘I’ve heard of Enoshima-san, but I don’t think I have ever seen her. I hope my luck will be by your side during your journey’, Nagito told him, his bright irises staring into the other’s skin. Nagito was pale, very pale. He looked sick. He probably was sick, if Shuichi had to believe Hajime’s stories. A normal person wouldn’t have been able to go through life with the messed up luck cycles that Komaeda had, but this male seemed to accept everything coming his way and with such ease. ‘Perhaps you should save a bit of luck for yourself’, Shuichi replied easily, with a small, genuine smile sent to the other. Nagito’s fingers wrapped around the glass of water, and he brought it to his lips, but Shuichi could see the grateful look playing in his eyes, even if he wouldn’t show it. ‘Oh, of course. If you say so’, the luckster replied, reaching down to pet the sweet cat that was Lucky, and carefully waving off to Shuichi as the bluenette reached the back door, and exited the house, to lean against the door after he closed it behind himself and let out a relieved sigh, one of many today.   
  
The hardest part of the moment was done, now he just needed to move quick. He had to be back and on his way before the sun rose, because usually that was when Kokichi woke up, and if the male noticed he was gone he’d know exactly what was happening. He couldn’t have him stop him, not now. Being guided by the vague light the moon granted him, Shuichi moved through the snow that was already melting bits as it wasn’t snowing right now, and heard his own footsteps being muffled. It was a nice sound, combined with the cold breeze and other nightly noises he was used to. It being dark outside, his mind tried to convince him of shadows moving here and there, but it was nothing he couldn’t handle, even if it made him a little anxious. He remembered there being a source of light inside of the cave, so if he was lucky, that was a reliable memory and he’d be able to find the armor just fine.   
  
Shuichi reached the mountain with what one could call ease. He noticed a bit of the moonlight shone through the small tunnel that he’d have to go through, and he bit his lip as he stepped to the side he had to be on, his hand reaching to touch the surface of brick and to help him travel to the part of the tunnel he had to be. Eventually there was a gap in the rough surface that he could feel, and he nodded to himself as he let a second hand press against the stone sort of door that led to the treasure. A light indeed emitted from the room, and he had to blink harshly to get used to it, the door closing behind him as he got into the room.   
  
He was glad to see that there seemed to be nothing gone from the big piles of gold as soon as his eyes had gotten used to the extra light, and he took in his surroundings. It wasn’t as though he didn’t trust Kazuichi, but it was nice to see his trust rewarded. The male could’ve gone here and taken a bit for himself that he perhaps didn’t own, but so far, it seemed as though he hadn’t. Shuichi wouldn’t have blamed him either, to be honest. But right now wasn’t the time to gape at all the riches that were hidden in this room, even if the coins twinkled and some of the gems were as pretty as paintings were, almost seeming like glass but having that authentic look to it that no one could fake. Not to someone with a good eye, anyway.   
  
The piles still made room for a small pathway, the one that Shuichi had realised was there before, and he tore his gaze off of a particularly beautiful stone to force himself to walk further. Some of the coins fell around him as he moved, making him realise how fragile the room must have been. When something is made of so many little unstable parts, it can fall apart as easily as it is built up, no matter how threatening it may have looked at first. Being buried underneath pieces of a fortune wasn’t a great thought, and the male gulped, shaking his head to himself. He needed to focus. Anxiety shouldn’t be playing with him like this. He wished he didn’t have to do this alone. Having someone to help him understand his thoughts are bullshit around, that was a thing he’d always found to be nice. He’d found it in Kiibo and he’d found it in Rantaro, and eventually in Kokichi as well. Still, the last one and the first one were no longer an option now, and Amami was far back into a kingdom that probably treated him as a traitor right now. Life was unfair like that, he supposed.   
  
As Shuichi moved forward, he felt his heart stop in his chest as a sound was heard a little further away from him, behind a pile of the golden coins he’d now grown to fear a little. ‘H-hello?’, he called out softly, a little shakily, but there was no response. Perhaps he’d just imagined it, after also imagining shadows outside, but that wouldn’t make sense. There was nothing for him to be scared of right now, although his anxiety told a different tale. He took another step, and as soon as he stopped walking to test something, he could hear yet another set of footsteps nearing where he was standing, and he stepped with a small gulp. That was no imagination. ‘Show yourself’, Shuichi muttered, although it didn’t sound too convincing. Now that he was close enough to the armor stand to see it, he noticed the armor was still intact, and shining brightly towards him. It was as beautiful as it had been before. However, the sword that he could have sworn always lay next to it, was missing, and that couldn’t be good now that he thought about it.   
  
a spot of purple caught his eye. He wanted to reach a hand to his eye to rub it, hoping he’d just figured wrongly, but as he stepped closer, he could feel himself paling a bit noticing the strands of hair that he didn’t want to notice. Behind the pile, leaning against it in an almost careless manner, was Kokichi Ouma, and Shuichi shook his head in shock, even though he supposed the intruder at least was no one too dangerous. ‘Wh-what? You’re supposed to be asleep-’, Shuichi told him, reaching a hand to his mouth to stop himself from continuing that sentence as he felt his cheeks redden from being caught like this.   
  
‘Oh of course I was supposed to be asleep’, Kokichi told him with a hum, rolling his eyes. In his right hand lay the sword, and the male saw Shuichi’s eye reach to it. ‘I got out through the front door when you were talking to Nagito. Do you think a liar like me can’t tell when he’s being lied to?’, the male huffed, his wrist making small movements that made the sword move easily. It was light in weight, and good to handle, Saihara remembered. ‘I can explain’, Shuichi started, hands folding over each other, although he huffed softly afterwards. ‘No, I don’t have to explain, you won’t stop me, Ouma’.   
  
‘Did you even think of a way to get inside of the castle?’, Kokichi asked, words sharp and cutting through Shuichi that felt more embarrassment as he realised he still hadn’t. He couldn’t figure out a way, anyway. Further than the gates and he got stuck with the idea any one of the guards could easily pick him out and put him behind bars or back at the stake. ‘I see, that’s a no. How disappointing. First you go lie to me, and then you don’t even think through your betrayal? I hate liars, you know. Always the same’, Kokichi tutted softly, his voice sounding too small to be able to be telling the truth. Shuichi stepped back. ‘Ou- Kokichi, I know you don’t want me to, but I won’t let you stop me from trying to help this town. It’s the least I can do, and please, don’t make me leave this place feeling guilty and alone’, Shuichi muttered, hoping that Ouma could at least be nice enough not to bust down his will to fight with another session of lecturing.   
  
‘Well, you know. I figured that even if I tried, you were going to go all sneaky-peaky on me’, Ouma responded easily, again twirling the sword in his hands, before setting it down carefully, keeping both hands on the handle. ‘Most don’t notice, but I know you can be pretty stubborn when it comes to things like these that matter to you and your feelings’, Kokichi sighed, trying to sound annoyed, but coming across more like he was trying to draw out his statement. ‘What I mean to say, is.. well, I’m not gonna let you die alone in there like some sad mess! It’s no fun if you go and walk right into a trap, you know? Aaand, since Shirogane is a strong opponent, I suppose I should help you out with some of my grand knowledge, otherwise the game wouldn’t be fair, would it be?’.   
  
A small smile grew on Shuichi’s face, as well as a nervous feeling inside of his stomach. ‘What exactly are you saying?’, he asked, just to be sure, since Kokichi was kind of twirling around the facts. The boy groaned, running a hand through his hair and pulling onto some of the strands with his fingers, seemingly bored. ‘I’m saying that I know a way into the castle, stupidhead, and I have had more sword training than you in my life, sooo, I  _ suppose  _ I’ll grace you with my company, since you so desperately need my aid. You can thank me later’, he waved it off, turning his face away. Old antics came back when one was afraid, and Shuichi could tell he was, but he was grateful, and he moved towards Kokichi, wrapping hands over his that were still holding onto the sword handle’s back and keeping it down. ‘Thank you!’, Shuichi told him, without a second thought leaning in and pressing a chaste kiss to the male’s forehead. ‘I didn’t really want to do this alone, so thank you so much…’.  
  
Even though they’d done far more than this, Kokichi still blushed a little bit and rolled his eyes, looking away with a huff. ‘Sure, sure, mister I can do it by myself. Now move your ass, I’ll show the way. Also, if you dare to die in there, I’ll kill you’, the purplenette warned him, before turning his back to Shuichi and taking the sword with him to the exit of the room. Saihara hummed with a small smile still on his lips, even though he also felt the nerves in his stomach. He’d rather not think of the possibility of any of them dying. Luckily, his willingness to take revenge on that witch was big enough to make him able to follow Kokichi, who he may or may not have been able to tease a bit for being flustered (which the purplenette denied with all of his might).   
  
The journey to Lavender Kingdom wasn’t a long one, but it was definitely one filled with nerves and with fear as they realised they were coming closer and closer to something they may not be able to win flawlessly. Getting inside of the kingdom proved not to be too hard as the both of them managed to climb the wall quite easily, Shuichi with a little help from the more skilled former prince, but now the only question was how Kokichi planned to get them inside of the castle without being spotted.   
  
There was a mischievous, know-it-all twinkle in the purple eyes of the trickster though, so Saihara supposed that was already taken care of. 


	23. No Time To Lose

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘This room is making me kind of nervous’, Shuichi whispered, his voice getting softer as well. He felt watched, strangely enough, even though the big piles of antiques would not allow him to see any shadows or anything else of the sort, so he wasn’t sure why.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> My life is a big mess rn, but I am trying to update this still, so sorry for the long wait.  
> Even if the chapter isn't as long, I hope it's still ok enough!  
> We are nearing the end of the story, but I'm pretty sure I'll still have to at least write 2 more chapters, perhaps even more if my brain makes up more content. 
> 
> Tw: (mentioning of) panic attacks; just make sure to check the tags regularly!

‘Quick!’, Kokichi gave yet another quiet order as his hand reached back to him where he’d laid down the sword for just a second. As soon as his fingers gripped the hand hold, he dashed forward, Shuichi following suit like he’d done every single time so far, towards the large brick cover of the royal palace itself. There was still mud on Shuichi’s knees from crawling through the higher grass that even after the wall reached out all the way to the back of the hills he had gotten used to looking at back when he was a servant at the castle. The grass wasn’t cut in ages and he was thankful for it, otherwise he wouldn’t have gone through all of that without a single scratch. They didn’t even need to climb a wall like he’d been afraid of needing to do; the kingdom wasn’t circled in by all walls, but the walls were strategically placed where there was a high chance of invaders. This way they back in the day saved time from having to surround every single place and making sure there was only one way out, while also keeping a part of escape through the forest possible for the residents of Lavender Kingdom if another kingdom were to attack. It had been a smart idea, but right now it had only served to get the two males into the castle unseen easier.  
  
There had been a lot of smoke coming from where Shuichi remembered the stakes to be, and he’d notified Ouma of it beforehand right when they got into the forest. The boy told him just to keep heading to their right, so they wouldn’t be spotted by the normal folks. Perhaps someone burning right now was a good distraction to them, but neither of the males even dared to bring that up, as they knew just how horrible it had been to be bound there, watched to die by those who you barely knew surrounding and staring you down as you scream in agony while doing so.  
  
There weren’t as many guards as Kokichi had expected, and Shuichi could tell that something was up with the purplenette. They stood with their backs against the castle wall, one of the towers of it rounding up and guarding them from anyone’s sight. Ouma’s eyes were focussed on that wall, his hand up to tell Saihara to keep quiet. The purplenette’s senses were pretty great, Saihara knew, but he never commented on it as it was a knowledge everyone could possess once they spent a little bit of time with the former prince. So far they only had to deal with hiding from two scouts surveilling the area where they tried to cross, and it almost seemed as though they weren’t even really trying to catch an intruder. With Shirogane, or Enoshima, or whoever she presented as towards the people of their town being in power now, Ouma expected there to be a full blown war with other kingdoms just minutes away from happening, and yet the kingdom was not protected any better than it usually was.  
  
‘Something’s wrong’, Shuichi muttered to him, studying the shorter male’s expression as he moved along to the backside of the castle, having to press themselves closer to the wall as a female guard passed; she wore the clothes of the royal guard around, so she was one of the higher ups, but even she didn’t seem to be paying attention as much. ‘Something’s bothering you’, Saihara continued, reaching out to touch the boy’s face. Kokichi caught his hand mid air, making the bluenette still his breathing for a moment. ‘Don’t worry about it’, the prince muttered, blinking as his head tilted, the air tickling his exposed neck. Just to be sure it wouldn’t get in the way, he’d tied his hair back, but for some reason his face felt over exposed now. Like he was being watched. But that was ridiculous, there was no one out there to watch them. He shook his head, deciding to let the strange feeling go. Only three guards so far. What happened?  
  
‘Over here’, Kokichi told him softly, hand reaching to a brick near the end of the tower’s curve, one that was hidden away from sight unless you got close enough to the wall to see it. The brick was uneven and seemed not to fit into the wall completely, making Shuichi frown a bit. ‘Hold this’, Ouma mumbled to him, handing him the sword, and using both of his hands to pull on the rough material. Although it left scratches in the palms of his hands, and the prince winced a bit, eventually the brick caved in and was pulled out, creating a very small opening. There was no light coming from inside, and Shuichi couldn’t help but to be curious, although he patiently waited for Kokichi to, now with the help of the gap that was made, pull out more brick that the aspiring detective had not figured would come out as easily as the former prince made it seem.  
  
The gap slowly became big enough for them to enter, even if it verged a bit of squirming through the rough edged gap for the somewhat taller Shuichi. ‘Oh come on, big boy, I’ve gone through that thing a dozen of times’, Kokichi grumbled, in the dark holding his hands out to feel the wall and to try to find the light switch by touch. ‘You seem to have forgotten I am the one carrying the sword right now’, Shuichi grumbled right back. He went feet first into the thing, so he wouldn’t have to worry about accidentally impaling himself with the sharp sword crawling to his destination, but right now he wished that he hadn’t, as it seemed that his torso was the hardest part to get through the very small space.  
  
‘Oomph-’, Shuichi whimpered as he fell through the gap, landing on the floor. The fact that Kokichi snickered made him sigh softly, as he graciously got up again, holding out the sword to the purplenette. ‘There you go, _your majesty_ ’, Shuichi jabbed back with slight annoyance. Now his hands were free after Kokichi took the sword from him with an equally nasty look on his face, Shuichi dusted off his pants and took his time to get used to the scarce lighting in this place. ‘Hey, uh… Where exactly are we?’, the bluenette asked, his voice lower than before. They were inside of the castle, that much he knew. First floor. This room was very small though, and he could make out a door on the other side, so he supposed it must have been some type of… broom closet? But that wouldn’t really make sense, not in the way he knew the castle at least.  
  
Kokichi hummed, running a hand through his hair and reaching to the doorknob. His hand stilled before taking the knob in his hand, though, and he turned to face the bluenette behind him. ‘Saih- Shuichi… whatever happens…’, Ouma started to speak, but his voice trailed off. His purple eyes were dull, Shuichi could tell even with the lack of lighting in the room, and his lavender scent was almost non existent, which was strange. The aspiring detective gave a small nod. ‘I know, you told me during the journey, if something happens to one of us, we’re on our own’. At first Shuichi had found it to be a strange idea, but he soon realised that their only true objective was to save Lavender Kingdom from their doom, with whatever means necessary.  
  
The corners of the purplenette’s lips trembled a little, but he himself looked as calm as one could be. A soft hand reached out to Shuichi’s face, and he was pulled a bit closer. Now, close enough to Kokichi’s face, he did notice the strange glimmer that was in his eyes as he looked at the taller male, one he couldn’t exactly place, but one he didn’t mind either. ‘No, not that’, Kokichi muttered, blinking, long lashes catching Shuichi’s attention. He could’ve been as mad as he was at the smaller trickster just moments ago, he again was captivated by the male now. There was just something special about the boy, something that didn’t have anything to do with the fact that he was a witch. Or maybe it did. Not like Saihara really cared either way. He smiled a little bit. Ouma wasn’t a vulnerable person per se, but right now he looked like he could break if Shuichi were to step back. There was an adoration, a need and perhaps a hidden pain in the expression of the man, but he wasn’t going to elaborate on any of that. Shuichi knew, though. He’d felt it too. That same adoration, that same need, that same pain… that same love.  
  
‘Yeah, you too’, Shuichi whispered after the silence that told him more than he needed to know. Reading his feelings and thoughts like that made Ouma’s lips curl upward a bit. They’d both been confused about what they were to each other, the liar supposed, although he definitely knew what Shuichi meant to him; the world. ‘Good’, Kokichi hummed in response, leaning up on his tippy toes to give Shuichi a peck on the forehead like Saihara had done to him before in the mountains, which the male accepted with a small blush, ‘because things are gonna get dangerous now’. 

Without a warning Kokichi opened the door, bright light shining into the closet they’d been in. Saihara cringed with a small hiss, hoping he didn’t sound too much like the vampire he felt like, but once he got used to the lighting in the room, his eyes widened a little bit. It was the washing room, he could easily tell, seeing the drying racks, the different piles of cloth and clothes, but he as well could detect a darker blue haired girl busying herself washing white shirts with strange blotches of red in them, very precisely and with a lot of concentration. Shuichi’s eyes widened, and he looked over at Kokichi to see what he had planned, but Ouma just grinned, which was something that the aspiring detective had not at all expected of him considering the situation they found themselves in. Sayaka Maizono, the girl that Saihara had seen some times during his shifts in the castle, only had to call out after all and their presence would become known.  
  
‘To your left’, the girl spoke up however, her back still turned to the boys. With a washing cloth she was scrubbing the shirt as hard as she could, but the dull metallic scent that started to fill Shuichi’s nostrils made him aware of the fact this probably wouldn’t help one bit. ‘Wh-what?’, Shuichi hushed towards his partner-in-crime, as Kokichi seemed to easily fold his arms behind his head, looking as carefree as ever. Saihara, in contrast to the calm boy, was feeling his heart pound harder than he could ever remember it doing.  
  
Sayaka’s face turned, her blue eyes piercing through Shuichi himself, basically ignoring the witch next to him. ‘Upstairs, to the left. The third room counting from the back of the hall. She made a throne room out of it, it’s hard to miss. That is what you wanted to know, right?’, the bluenette girl asked carefully, blinking once in concentration. Baffled, Shuichi didn’t know what to say. First of all, the long haired girl did not at all worry about them being there, despite the fact that everyone in the kingdom knew them to be the big bad witches that escaped their deaths, and she didn’t seem that shocked either. Even if she was smart and possibly understood the two males would inevitably come back here someday, she should’ve been at least a little bit shocked at their sudden appearance, but she didn’t even bat an eye.  
  
‘Wonderful! Good to see you, Maizono’, Ouma winked at her, obnoxiously so, but the words were nice enough. Shuichi still looked at the two, coming back from the initial shock of seeing this girl and not actually being “ratted out” as Kokichi would put it. ‘Wh-what’s going on?’, Shuichi whispered toward the smaller male next to him, as if he still was keeping secrets from Sayaka, even though she could easily hear them. For a moment it seemed that he’d finally confused the blue haired girl as well, but eventually she gave him a small smile, the amusement on Ouma’s own face not very well hidden.  
  
‘Oh well, you wanted to know where Miss Enoshima usually stays, at least that’s what you wondered when you walked in’, Sayaka told them calmly, seeming in thought as though she was trying to recollect the events in her mind. ‘Or… I may have been wrong. Prince Ouma is very blurry, usually’. Shuichi could feel his face burn, simply by the thought of what this indicated, and he felt a little dumb for still not understanding. ‘Uh- no, yeah, I figured that, but, how did you know? I mean, how did you know we wanted to ask you that?’. Intuition, it must have been intuition. And yet, Maizono laughed wholeheartedly, not seeming offended by the questions at all. It was no fun when Saihara was the bud of the joke, and even though he’d gotten more used to it throughout the years, he still couldn’t help but to feel a little embarrassed about it. ‘Oh, well, that’s because I’m psychic!’, Sayaka answered happily, an innocent smile on her face as her head tilted a bit to the side.  
  
 _I have to clean all that? he thought to himself, trying to think about how much time that would take. ‘Of course you don’t have to do all of it, just help out a little!’, Maizono chirped as she continued with folding the covers she’d already washed and let dry. Shuichi blinked, his eyes widening a bit as he thought he said that out loud. ‘No no, you didn’t say anything out loud. I’m psychic’, Sayaka explained, with a soft smile, although Chihiro nudged her. ‘Don’t joke like that with the new servant, he could think you’re a witch and you know what happens then’, the brunette mumbled to her, but Saihara could still hear it. He supposed she just had a good intuition.  
_ _  
_ Shuichi shook his head at the memory, coming back to the here and now he was in. Locking gazes with Kokichi, the male was staring back at him with a grin that suggested this was the most logical thing there could be, but it only just clicked in Shuichi’s mind. His eyes widened and he snapped his fingers out of habit, perhaps a little too loud for their mission of coming in unseen, but luckily no one seemed to hear them. ‘You’re a- _you’re a witch too_ !’, Shuichi finished off in more of a whisper, a strangely giddy feeling overtaking him as the bluenette shrugged a little bit and kept her innocent expression, before turning back to her job of cleaning the uncleanable. Back when he’d first met her, he probably wouldn’t have believed it if anyone told him she was a witch, but things changed a lot during the time he got to know Kokichi and grew closer to him.  
  
‘Alright Sherlock, great going, but we need to move now’, Ouma teased him with a know-it-all look on his face, one that as per usual Shuichi ignored. Just because Kokichi had known, didn’t mean he should’ve known all this time that there were more witches in the castle. Just a bit longer and he’d probably find out Kirumi or some other maid was a witch as well, this all was a big revelation that he wouldn’t have thought of before. ‘Oh no, don’t worry, it’s just the two of us as far as I’m aware. Not counting Shirogane of course’, Sayaka spoke up, and Shuichi snapped his fingers again, but this time as he held his hand next to his head. ‘My thoughts are private’, he muttered with a small huff, ignoring Kokichi’s small snicker. ‘Yes Maizono-san, quit snoopin’ in poor Shumai’s brains and pretend you never saw us’, the prince spoke, his expression turning more serious near the end. Sayaka smiled gently, holding up the shirt she’d been trying to wash. ‘As if I would have noticed you two came into the castle this way. I was simply too busy doing my job, you see’, she worthlessly responded, getting a small finger-guns from Kokichi, before the purplenette pulled Shuichi out of the door. 

‘She gives me the creeps, snooping around in my thoughts’, Kokichi muttered as soon as the door was closed behind them. ‘I always make sure to keep an annoying song on my mind for if she tries’, whispered the former prince further, signaling with his hand for Shuichi to get lower to the ground, which the male did. Now was the more complicated part of their plan; they would have to reach the room that Sayaka had spoken of without being seen, and that may be a problem now that the aspiring detective looked to both their left and right. So now and then he noticed guards walking past the halls that were on the ends of this longer hallway to the washing room, and he was glad that they didn’t focus on this hall as much, otherwise the two of them would’ve been done for.  
  
‘Our best bet is to move through rooms with several openings… I think’, Shuichi muttered, placing his finger to his lips as he thought. Kokichi nodded, understanding what he meant. Moving through the open hallways was going to give them nothing, since the guards would easily pick up on them. Trying to find empty rooms to move through was perhaps easier, as there didn’t seem to be many maids around right about now. ‘We just have to get to the stairs unseen, that’ll be the hardest part’, Kokichi told him, scratching his neck. ‘The room in front of us leads to the hall directly connected to those stairs, but since the exit door for us would be on the right side, that gives us a lot of the other hallway we’d have to pass before being able to get on the second floor’, the prince laid out the option with a small frown, not exactly “feeling” it, per se. Shuichi nodded once. He knew what that meant. They had to be silent, they had to be quick, and most of all, they had to be really, _really_ lucky.  
  
 _‘I’ve heard of Enoshima-san, but I don’t think I have ever seen her. I hope my luck will be by your side during your journey’, Nagito told him, his bright irises staring into the other’s skin.  
_ _  
_ Ah, perhaps the luck they needed was already provided for them. That was a nice idea, at least.  
  
It helped Shuichi grab onto the sleeve of Ouma, the one at his unoccupied arm, waiting for guards to pass like they’d done every other half a minute Shuichi counted, being more observant himself than some around him thought of him. ‘Go’, he whispered as soon as the people were gone, and they would be gone far enough out of sight not to be able to hear them either. They passed the hall to the other side, swiftly but making as little noise as they could, and close against the wall they sneaked to the other door, touching the knob and opening it carefully, staying still for a moment to hear if anyone was inside of the room. No one seemed to be, or they were awfully good at keeping quiet. Kokichi, who had been to Shuichi’s left and reached the door earlier than he did, gave a nod, before going inside quickly. The bluenette waited a second like he knew the smaller man wanted him to do, hearing nothing that should scare him off and therefore following suit once again. 

The blue haired male let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding as they were inside of a strangely stacked and possibly improvised storage room holding different types of plates and porcelain, seemingly robbed from the kitchen and placed here for whatever reason Tsumugi would’ve found to do so. ‘At least we did that’, Shuichi muttered out loud, his hands that had been balled to his sides from the nerves finally relaxing. ‘Don’t get used to it quite yet, we’ve still got a long while to go, and many opportunities to get caught’, Ouma hummed back, back turned to the taller boy. His voice was a little lower, which meant he was on guard, for whatever reason that may have been. His lavender scent was still not to be detected, and Shuichi now supposed that Kokichi was trying his hardest not to be noticed around here. Whether that was energy draining or not was the question, but it didn’t seem like Kokichi was tired yet, so that was good. 

‘This room is making me kind of nervous’, Shuichi whispered, his voice getting softer as well. He felt watched, strangely enough, even though the big piles of antiques would not allow him to see any shadows or anything else of the sort, so he wasn’t sure why. It reminded him a bit of the treasure they found back in the mountains, but now it was a dangerous, easy to break and to make a lot of noise- treasure. ‘Just don’t touch anything, you’ll be fine’, the cautious prince hushed back in response, watching his step as he reached the exit door, which indeed was more to the right of the room as the guy had said. Even though he wouldn’t be able to see it, Shuichi nodded in response, supposing he was right. The plates of china and the poor porcelain cups would be untouched, and therefore would not break and make a lot of noise and alert everyone that they were there and _oh god they’d go for Kokichi first because he was closest to the exit and being buried underneath a mess of plates and cups would mean Shuichi wouldn’t be able to stop them and-  
_   
‘Shuichi’, the voice of Ouma sounded, closer to him than it had been before. The bluenette didn’t even notice how tightly his eyes were shut, but he wasn’t really keen on the idea of having to open them again, being met with the breakable porcelain, and the breakable porcelain of Kokichi’s face; that most definitely. Hands touched his face, they were cupped around his cheeks, and his head was tilted upwards, he could feel as much, but he kept his eyes tightly shut. His head felt a little funny, he felt like he could fall over, and perhaps the stress was finally sinking in on him. Being back in here, with the new scent of death and despair that clung to the castle ever since Shirogane’s arrival, perhaps it had finally made him aware of their situation, the situation he brought them in because of what Kokichi would’ve called his hero-complex. He had the right reasons, he surely did, but right now his mind couldn’t come up with a single thing that would prevent him from running out of here, no matter how hard he tried. And someone was watching them, why was Saihara so sure of this? Hawk’s eyes were pried into his skin, but from where, and why, and how? 

‘Shuichi, hey, calm down’, Kokichi whispered. He was closer, and his thumbs rubbed small circles into his cheeks. ‘I’m here, try to clear your head, beloved’, the purplenette continued, his voice a little uneven. Of course, they had to hurry, Shuichi knew this, and having a change of mind right now was not at all a good thing to advance their plans. ‘I-I’m sorry, I-I-’, Shuichi struggled to respond, but Ouma shushed him softly, still holding him. ‘Hey, it’s okay, just try to open your eyes, alright?’, the smaller male carefully told him, holding his head down a little so their foreheads touched. It was a nice gesture, and Saihara did feel a little safer, even if the uncertainty and the lightheaded feeling had not at all left him. Why did he decide to bet his life on this again? Why did he decide that Ouma had to bet his life on this?  
  
He wanted to do as the other told him, though. Even though he was panicking and he’d rather fall through the floor right now than open his eyes, he couldn’t permit keeping them behind much longer. They’ve been through enough now, and he couldn’t hurt anyone as much as himself if he didn’t just man up and go through with what he’d started. No matter how hard it was. He could imagine how pale he looked, he always did during these types of moments, and perhaps how much Kokichi should’ve probably just left him behind. Shaking his head a little, Shuichi straightened his posture, and forced his eyes to open, without realising by standing up straight he was making himself (courtesy of his wobbly legs) fall backwards, a short gasp escaping the purple haired prince.  
  
He was falling, he was falling in a strange blackness of mind that allowed him to see but not to understand, and everything he heard was like it was slowed down. He was falling, and then he wasn’t falling anymore. No clash of porcelain and of plates and of all the other delicate objects in this room sounded, even though Shuichi figured he would’ve heard at least something if he would’ve fallen on the floor. But milliseconds had strangely felt like ages of disappointment, and he could subconsciously feel that strong breeze towards his back as though someone was rushing to him from behind, strangely enough as no one was supposed to be there. There was a strong grip around his throat, and Shuichi figured the feeling of not being able to breathe freely came from his panicked mindset that wouldn’t allow his throat to open, as well as making him feel as though he was held in a tight grip… although that didn’t make sense.  
  
His mind got back to his current state again, and he noticed a clad-in-black-tight-leather arm pressed against his throat, as well as holding onto the waist as some sort of support. Kokichi pulled the sword, holding it with both hands as though he were to dash at the person that was holding Shuichi tight gripped, but from the corner of his eye he noticed how the person, wearing gloves, only had to thrust forward their wrist to show off a metal object, registered as a dagger bound to the wrist soon enough in Shuichi’s mind, and its point was prodding into his skin without actually damaging yet, but it made the male gulp. ‘Don’t’, a demanding voice, a female voice, spoke behind Shuichi. ‘Put down the sword’, followed a second command, rolling off her tongue as though it was second nature to her to be giving commands as such.  
  
‘Who’, Kokichi gritted his teeth angrily, not putting down the weapon yet but instead holding it tightly, knuckles turning whiter as he did so, ‘the _fuck_ are you?’.  
  
‘Is my name of importance?’, the lady asked in return, her voice not wavering a bit, although for some reason her grip around Shuichi’s throat loosened a bit, to which the bluenette was very grateful. Ouma let out a humorless snicker, raising his other hand in a shrugging gesture, ‘well yeah it kind of fuckin’ is if you’re about to kill my boyfriend!’. Boyfriend, huh… Shuichi hadn't heard that coming from the prince before, but he didn’t mind the name either. Not like being mid-panic and being held by the throat really left him any space to think about it on a much deeper level either, but that was beside the point. ‘Mukuro Ikusaba’, the strong woman answered swiftly, sadly enough not letting her weapon down from Saihara’s throat. ‘Now put down your weapon. I have no intention to kill your boyfriend’.  
  
Hearing that, Kokichi seemed a little less on edge, and more hopeful about the situation. The aspiring detective himself felt air flow through him again, and knowing that the girl wasn’t really intending to kill him he could feel himself calm down a little as well. It was strange how a worse situation made his own anxiety apparently less present. Carefully, the purple haired male put the sword down, and with a swift click the switchblade was retrieved as well. The bluenette was still held though, probably for the woman to be sure that Ouma wouldn’t simply charge at her. ‘What’s going on’, Shuichi dared to ask in a small breath, gulping a little.  
  
‘I know why the both of you are here, sir Ouma and Saihara Shuichi’, the woman spoke, carefully pushing Shuichi back to Kokichi’s side after noticing he didn’t seem that dangerous anymore now the danger was basically gone on his side. With a somewhat shaking hand Shuichi grabbed onto Ouma’s wrist as he stood next to him, being able to look at the woman now, and the former prince didn’t bother to try and push him off. She had short and neatly cut black hair, and wore an outfit that made her seem more like some type of secretary than anything, yet the bruise on her face and the blood that was still evident in her shirt told a different tale. ‘Yet you’re not turning us in’, Kokichi noticed, humming softly. She folded her arms over her chest, but it wasn’t in annoyance. ‘Why?’. ‘I do not know for sure’, the girl spoke, blinking as she looked down at the ground.  
  
‘I am the head of the royal guard and the leader of every troop going out of the kingdom’, Ikusaba explained, seeing the small nod that came from Ouma. ‘I figured that much’, he responded easily. She looked at him a little funny, but he held his hands out defensively. ‘It’s a compliment, really’. ‘Enoshima is making us do more than we are capable of’, explained the lady further as though Ouma’s words meant nothing, which Shuichi supposed was somewhere a little bit true. ‘She made me take my men up north, past the mountains’. ‘Togami’s empire’, Kokichi muttered, bewildered. Now that was a name that Saihara knew as well, and he let out a small gasp, only being able to speculate about how that must have gone. ‘All his guards and soldiers are trained professionals, aren’t they? My uncle told me about his empire a while back after an excursion seeking a certain servant that had been kidnapped’, Shuichi explained his knowledge, placing his hand over his mouth as he did sometimes while thinking. ‘Correct’, answered Ikusaba with a small nod. For a moment they almost forgot where they were, and the woman in front of them definitely seemed like she was back at the battle again, her eyes dark and filled with a desire to live on, and a bit of hatred.  
  
‘We were slaughtered like piglets coming into a butchery, knowing exactly what fate is awaiting them yet being unable to do anything about it. Enoshima’s word is our law’, the black haired woman sighed. ‘She’s… horrible, that much is true. If I could have taken her from the throne myself, I would have. But I cannot. It is against many laws to kill your own flesh and blood, after all’. At the surprised looks on both of the boys’ faces, she gave a small rare smile that not many people ever saw. ‘Enoshima is my sister. I don’t know much more about her than she has told me, though. I know she lives in and on despair, quite literally, and she can change herself into Tsumugi Shirogane temporarily, although emotion can make this disguise malfunction’, the black haired girl explained. Shuichi remembered seeing the ends of her hair turn pink during certain times, and her eyes turning another shade, and he supposed that must have been why. It did start to all make sense now, he supposed. ‘My sister… she isn’t a good person, no. And I know that if I get in the way, she would kill me without hesitation. And yet I can’t bring my own hands to do it. I cannot bear to see it. So please… if you are to try and defeat her, I do not mind bringing you to her throne room, but I will not be there to help during the battle’.  
  
Ouma only had to look at Shuichi for a second to see what he was thinking; she knows much more about the situation in the castle right now than the both of them did, so her help could be very much of use. ‘Do you know anything about what happened to Kirumi and Rantaro and the others?’, Shuichi asked, eyes hopeful. He hoped they weren’t dead, that was all he could hope for. Kiibo already died for what had happened with Enoshima, so he hoped not all his friends had to pay for it as well. Mukuro nodded once, which was something she did an awful lot to be honest. ‘They are held hostage in the cellar. I feed them now and then. I am aware of Miss Harukawa visiting the prisoners too from time to time, but I have never seen her visits as a threat’, Ikusaba basically reported, standing awfully still in her position. She was a trained soldier, truly. ‘We’ll take care of that if we’re able to get rid of Shirogane’, Kokichi decided for them, running a hand through his hair and picking up his sword. ‘Alright then, Ikusaba-san. Show the way’.  
  
Getting through the castle with the black haired woman’s help was a lot easier. She knew the exact moments that guards went past to look, and she knew which guards were where, and she knew which guards wouldn’t tell on them and which would most definitely tell on them. They barely had to hide themselves, and even though the walk up the stairs had seemed horribly life-threatening before, it turned out to be fairly easy with Mukuro who knew a certain gap in time where there’d be no guard upstairs and none down. ‘Is it only Kirumi and Rantaro that got imprisoned?’, Shuichi asked softly to the lady, as they now had to hide behind a wall for a moment to wait for a long haired woman to pass them through another hall to their left. Mukuro shook her head no, keeping a blank expression. ‘Miss Tojo, Tsumiki, Sir Amami, Momota and Fujisaki all are in there. I’m not aware of other prisoners, but even that is possible’.  
  
Saihara looked pained. His friends, they were in trouble alright. He’d told Mikan, the nurse, not to get close to Shirogane only to protect her, which eventually had let to her being able to free Rantaro from his hospital bed and to let the group of Rantaro, Kirumi and Kaito cause enough distraction to save Shuichi and Kokichi time to escape from the stake. It had been a chain of reactions for sure, and Saihara gulped as he understood what must have happened had he not told Tsumuki anything and had she fully believed in Shirogane from the get go. Blinking, the boy felt a soft squeeze of his hand, noticing how Kokichi had put his own smaller hand over his. Swallowing a next gulp, Shuichi was pulled back to their situation, and hummed. ‘Sorry, still here’, he muttered, making the purplenette laugh quietly. Overthinking truly was a curse. ‘It’s alright… let us move carefully, and not run too much’, Kokichi muttered more as a demand than anything. He got side eyed by Mukuro, and his blank face returned, which couldn’t mean any good, but neither of the group wanted to say anything about it as it seemed.  
  
‘It’s at the end of this hall’, Mukuro spoke softly, ‘to the left’. Shuichi nodded. That’s exactly what Sayaka had told them, so it was probably true. ‘Do you think she’ll have any guards around her?’, Ouma asked, letting his head tilt a bit to be able to look through the hall swiftly, before pulling it back. Both of his hands rested against the wall of this room that led to the hall they were basically hiding away in for now, as though he was trying to lean on it. ‘No’, Mukuro responded shortly. After the questioning silence, she sighed a little, and turned her head. ‘Enoshima loves the dramatic flair and a slight possibility of losing. I do not think she will give herself any more protection than herself’. ‘Do you mean she’s aware of us being here?’, Shuichi asked, his heart beating a little harder now as he again felt his anxiety levels rise. That wasn’t good, not good at all. If she could predict their arrival, they were basically done for already, weren’t they? ‘Not necessarily’, Ikusaba answered in all honesty, her soft shoes making no noise on the floor as she walked a bit further away to the right, letting her ear rest against the wall too now. She was checking if there were any unwanted guests near, and apparently, there were not. ‘She knows you will be returning to the kingdom, but she hasn’t an idea when that might be, except that it is soon’.  
  
‘Quick and careful’, Kokichi muttered, more to himself than anyone else. ‘We have to be quick about it, and yet we have to be careful’. Shuichi hummed softly. They knew that Enoshima was a star at manipulating anything around them, and she also seemed to have a keen eye; she was a very perceptive woman for sure. ‘We can’t waste too much time, otherwise we lose our surprise element. We can’t have her figure out we’re here’, Ouma continued, twisting around his fingers the purple strands of hair that left his tied back hair long ago to freely lay against his head and bounce up. He was nervous, Shuichi could tell. Usually he couldn’t really tell, but now Kokichi seemed more open than anything. Perhaps he was really nervous, or perhaps he was just more tired than usually, and therefore easy to read.  
  
‘I cannot help you any further than here. This is where we will part ways’, Mukuro told them, folding her hands together diplomatically almost. ‘I… wish you good luck in defeating the monster that is my sister. I will keep any guard busy if necessary’, the black haired woman added with a small bow, and Kokichi smiled a little bit at her, a genuine one. ‘Thank you. We’ll be on our way, then. No time to lose’. Ikusaba left from another entrance that led to a hall more to the right of where they were. They would soon have to enter the hall that would lead them to Enoshima’s room. Sword in hand, there was no turning back. Shuichi had chosen this fate, and he’d deal with it now, even if he was a little scared, definitely for Kokichi that would have to wield the weapon. Their enemy was strong, he understood that very well.  
  
They truly had no time to lose, no. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: 
> 
> I'm kind of tempted to write a naegami oneshot taking place in this universe; like the kidnapped servant would've been Makoto ofcourse (even though he wasn't truly "kidnapped" but simply walked out after an argument but that's just the stupid lore I made for a frickin' fanfiction)


	24. Time to Fight Back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ‘What.’, Kokichi muttered, ‘did you do to my parents?’.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> I was planning on making everything in one chapter so the next one could be the end, but I spend a little too much on the battle, so I decided to split it into two parts.  
> We are very close to the end of the story! Expect about one to two chapters are left (could be more, you never know with me, but I think one or two will be about it). 
> 
> Also yes there's a meme in there I just wrote it as a joke but then I decided not to take it out because,,, I don't know funni ig. 
> 
> Trigger warning: violence, blood, (mentioning of) torture, mind control;; this one's a wild one. 
> 
> ((didn't reread again, sorry. It's time for me to go sleep))

Shuichi was faintly aware of how hard he was gripping onto Kokichi’s shoulder as they proceded to walk through the long hallway, following the extra instructions of Mukuro about how not to be seen by other servants. His knuckles were turning white, and he felt tense, but not panicked as per usual. It was a different sort of tense. For some reason he couldn’t help but to think back about those birds that Amami had once shown him in one of the books that had most definitely burned up by the fire Tsumugi had started. Would he ever get to dance with prince Ouma like they have, or would everything end today? That was a rather scary thought; even though the male didn’t consider him scared of death before, and he could even say he used to enjoy the idea of serving a limited amount of time on this planet until it was his time to go, now things had changed in his life, enough to also change his mind. The smaller guy he was holding by the shoulders and who was leading him with small hisses towards Saihara as he wanted him to stop crushing his poor bones, for example. Believe it or not, the small trickster actually managed to make Shuichi think about the future in a different way. The stories he heard and the places he’d already been to made for that as well. There was a lot he still wanted to do, definitely with the former prince by his side. So dying today wasn’t an option. 

The boys walked through the hallway, each breath of one another making them jump a little, nervous and scared for their lives, quite logically so. Although Ouma complained about how Shuichi was digging his nails into the purplenette’s skin, the aspiring detective could easily see how his hands holding onto the elegant sword were as well turning pale and shaking a little. He couldn’t tell what exactly was on Kokichi’s mind, but he supposed it mustn't have been something great. It seemed as though the knowledge that Mukuro had provided them with, of the fact that Enoshima knew damn well that they would return, set the former prince off in a way. Shuichi himself tried not to think about it too much. About how they were basically walking right into a trap, and doing it consciously. He should’ve probably listened to Ouma when the guy told him they had nothing to do with this place and didn’t need to become heroes, but it was too late now.  
  
They stopped in front of a door, connecting to a differently painted wall, one that had Shuichi cringe a little bit. The red color did not match the red of the carpet after all, and it seemed as though it was fairly recently painted; he didn’t recognize this part of the building anyway. The castle had been beautifully organised, but this was as though the room didn’t belong to the palace at all. Paintings were hung to the wall as per usual, but these were of Enoshima herself, and Shuichi tried not to look at them. The door was a golden color like the doorknob was, over the top glamorous. The fact that Ouma was breathing rather harshly through his nose convinced Saihara that he wasn’t the only one that had some difficulties understanding the changes that were made. Still, wordlessly his gaze set on the taller male behind him, violet eyes with a strange determination in them meeting Shuichi’s own golden ones. He nodded once. They had to do it now or never, and this “ _never_ ” frankly wasn’t truly an option. 

Kokichi’s hands reached the doorknob, and he turned it, to which the door itself opened with a rather annoying noise, making both boys flinch.   
Shuichi wasn’t sure what he was expecting to see when that door opened, but it wasn’t this. He could feel his breathing slow almost to a halt, almost as though the atmosphere of the room that was once used as a ballroom was as entranching as the purplenette next to him could be at times. A big chandelier hung from the ceiling still, but it wasn’t lit, and the room itself was almost engulfed in darkness, the only light coming from the hall where Shuichi and Ouma were standing. There seemed to be no windows in the room, where Saihara could faintly remember there used to be multiple ones to let in daylight for the guests to enjoy. The walls were painted the same red as they’d witnessed outside, there were strangely silver armor stands placed like props near the left wall where the windows should have been, and there was a big, golden throne in the middle of the room, built up on a higher platform. And there, in full glory, said the pink haired woman, enveloped in a robe that Shuichi remembered Kokichi’s mother wearing to one of the parties, and a dramatic crown twirling in her hands as she toyed with it, looking bored.  
  
‘Hello, hello! It was about time you two showed up’, her shrill voice sounded through the room, echoing from the walls and bouncing back even sharper in a way that had Shuichi shudder, and Kokichi stepped into the room first. The strawberry pink haired lady held out a hand as though she was telling him to hold it, her legs dangling from one of the armrests of the throne she was sitting on moving itself to stretch a little, and she did the same with her arms, a small yawn escaping her which had the boys frown. ‘I’ve waited for _days_ , you know! Wouldn’t take y’all as such sissies to never show up for a girl!’, chirped the woman again, both feet now placed on the floor underneath her as she sat hunched over, eyeing the two guys that looked at her. Shuichi was baffled, but the only emotion that Ouma felt was annoyance; definitely when he realised she was wearing his mother’s robe, and looking at the way her eyes twinkled and her smirk grew when she noticed that annoyance, told the purplenette that this had been a purposeful decision of hers to rile him up.  
  
‘I take it you know what we’re here for?’, Kokichi said in the most indifferent voice he could muster, holding up the sword more and taking a stance as though he was a baseball player. The woman batted her eyelashes and snorted softly at this. Unfortunately for the former prince he did not look as convincing as he would’ve hoped. ‘Uh, ya, of course I know. I may look like a blonde bimbo, but I _am_ the queen of your kingdom now, ya know’, she waved off, rolling her grey eyes that held a blue tint. Still, even after this neither Shuichi nor Ouma moved forward more, being concerned that this wasn’t the only trap the woman had laid.  
  
‘What, am I too scary like this? Aww, _awe you scawed of lil’ old me_?’, Enoshima taunted childishly with a fake pout, holding her fists to her face and fake crying in a way that made Ouma’s toes curl, and not in a good way. He huffed, almost spatting out the words as he spoke again. ‘Just taking extra precautions’, he told her, to which she stood up swiftly, her robe clutching around her sickeningly. ‘Does it help if I change to poor, plain old Shirogane?’, she asked, venomously, as her hair started to turn into the blue tint that Shuichi recognized better than anything else. The pigtails were straighter as she grabbed the glasses that she’d put on a side table next to her, placing them on her nose and folding her hands over her chest. ‘Like this I look just so plain harmless, wouldn’t you agree?’, she smiled innocently, in a way that hurt Shuichi to look at her. ‘Don’t be stupid’, the former prince answered almost defensively, his expression contorting into a more truthfully, frowning one. 

‘Stupid? Like your friends were, stupid?’, Enoshima, now looking like Shirogane, asked as she tilted her head, pretending to be curious about the answer. Although Ouma didn’t really respond to this, this managed to hit Shuichi straight in the heart. ‘Our friends aren’t stupid’, he managed to say out loud, nodding afterwards as to confirm this statement to himself. Shirogane giggled however, a hand placed on her lips in a form of pretending to be polite. ‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that. They walked right into the trap, every single one of them, and you’re about to do the same thing!’. Saihara bawled his fists as he tried not to let her affect him much, but he couldn’t help it. ‘What’s that supposed to mean?’, he asked, the detective in him wanting to have as much information as he could have, although perhaps considering the sadistic antics of this woman, he should’ve probably not want to know anything about this at all.

‘Well’, the bluenette woman continued, turning herself back into Enoshima and running a hand through her now pink tinted blonde hair and giving them yet another innocent look. ‘I have every single one of those stupid boys and girls behind bars now, don’t I?’, she said with a fake smile, winking at the boys as Shuichi scrunched up his face in a disgusted way. ‘And may the torturing not have been as fun as I thought it would be…’, Enoshima continued with a slow sigh as she slumped back into her chair, despairingly throwing her hands up, ‘I suppose it was for the best. Not that I really wanted their information, but to be honest with ya guys, I was rather bored that day anyway!’.  
  
Shuichi pushed past Kokichi, stepping into the room angrily, feeling his chest hurt at the words of the cruel woman. His friends were in danger, those that helped him, and she’d hurt him, and for what? For some entertainment? She said it herself, she was _bored_ . ‘Upupup, stay right where you are’, Enoshima tutted, keeping her hand out in a “halt” sign as she pouted her lips up a little again, but Shuichi didn’t listen to her. ‘Shuichi, she’s-’, Kokichi tried to speak, wanting to stop the bluenette from making any rash decisions, but the aspiring detective seemed like he couldn’t care less, and simply rammed his words right through those of the purplenette. ‘You’re a horrible, _horrible_ person’, the taller male managed to say, feeling himself choke up a little as he thought about it. ‘You wouldn’t say’, responded the pink haired lady sarcastically, ending in a small chuckle. ‘You must have a deathwish if you’re not obeying orders! I heard you’re quite good at that, too!’, she winked, the implication making Shuichi feel sick to his stomach. ‘Fuck you’, he managed to choke out as he tried to charge forward, no weapon in hands.  
  
Kokichi watched from close to the door itself as with a snap of Enoshima’s fingers, Shuichi’s body blocked itself, his arms flattening to his sides and his legs giving out, making him fall over as though he was paralised by the woman. Ouma stepped forward, but stopped himself as this made for Junko’s eyes to snap towards him. ‘Your boytoy is alive, no worries!’. The prince lowered his sword a bit, and he heard himself letting out an unhumorous chuckle. ‘What, unimpressed?’, Enoshima asked with a smirk, ignoring how Kokichi was making himself act like he didn’t feel threatened at all. ‘Underwhelmed is the word for it’, the purplenette heard himself ramble, but the words coming out of him almost felt like he wasn’t the one saying them. Whenever he found himself in a state of pain or of nerves that he usually did not feel, it was like his mind and his true me seperated from one another, usually resulting in destruction. 

The purple haired prince knew his body was shaking, he was vaguely aware of it. His eyes shifted to the body of Shuichi that lay on the floor, and for a moment he could emerge in the fantasy he’d had before; that only he would make it out of here. Despite the logical part of his brain telling him that this could’ve only resulted into death, and telling him that he should’ve said no to the bluenette boy, he should’ve been stronger and he should’ve stopped him from going here, Kokichi was damn sure that the recently discovered feelings part of his brain would block this from happening, and either way he would’ve eventually supported the bluenette in his decision. If he wanted to save these people, than so be it, but Ouma had promised to himself that no actual harm would be brought to Saihara, over his dead body there would. Yet here he was, unmoving and floored in an unflattering way. The sword in his hands felt heavy, and for a moment he considered letting it fall to the floor, but that would mean everything was over, wouldn’t it? Ouma didn’t like losing in games, and he wouldn’t lose in this one either.  
  
‘I can make him do more things, don’t you dare underestimate me. I can make Saihara-chan harm himself, or I can make him drown himself, like I did to that green haired servant’s friend some time ago! There’s so much fun I can have, and so little time’, sighed the woman, shaking her head. Rage was filling the purplenette slowly the longer that Junko spoke, but he managed to keep himself composed, although he wasn’t sure for how long he’d be able to keep that act up. Like a puppet held on strings, with another snap of her fingers, Shuichi stood up from the floor. For a second the prince felt somewhat relieved to know the aspiring detective was truly not dead, but at the same time, he knew it didn’t mean anything good. The boys' golden eyes, as they were bright and lovely before, were empty. He’d seen this before, a whole while back when they hadn’t known each other for as long as they did now, and he’d brought him to the local market. There Enoshima had brought him into a trance as well, but in comparison to this, that must’ve been child’s play. 

Junko grinned, and Shuichi walked over to the right side of the room, where a table had been put up. It held different eating utensils suchs as forks, knives and spoons, and plates were piled up on one another, glasses that weren’t filled taking up much space on the rest of the table. Ouma recognized the table as one that his parents would order servants to make ready whenever guests were coming over and the ballroom would be in use, so they could go over to the side of the place and hydrate were they tired of dancing and hungry after their voyage to the castle. The room would have been sparkling, and the sounds of laughter and old, nifty looking ladies would grab onto the cheeks of the young ladies entering the place, telling them how much they’d grown even though they barely grew at all. Kokichi wasn’t really allowed to be present most of the time. When he was younger he used to peep through the gap of the usually not-closed doors (after many quests came in and a door had to be closed behind them each time, most of the time the servants stopped trying). He’d see them laugh, and he’d see them enjoy too many glasses of whine and he’d see how happy his parents looked, but he wouldn’t truly feel anything, except the understanding that he was not in the picture. Not that it mattered. He didn’t really care about being a prince, anyway. Still, he’d prefer that picture of loneliness over the picture of despair this room was now creating, courtesy of Junko Enoshima. 

‘Saihara-chan’, Enoshima’s voice rang once again which snapped Ouma out of his thoughts and made him feel even more irritated for the fact she used the title that Kokichi felt only he was allowed to call Shuichi with, ‘be a dear and pick up that plate, would you?’. Within a second, without hesitation, Saihara picked it up, holding it to his chest and eyeing into the room brainlessly. Kokichi squinted his eyes at the pink haired woman. ‘That’s enough, I believe you’, he told her, wanting to end this as soon as possible, but he was pretty sure that it would be to no use. ‘Drop it’, Junko simply said, ignoring the prince’s words. Enoshima smirked a little, as within a beat the aspiring detective’s pale and elegant fingers unwrapped themselves from the plate without a second thought. Ouma managed not to flinch as the sound of the plate crashing to the floor invaded his mind, again bouncing off the walls as though the room too was enjoying this like Enoshima was. Shards of the porcelain flew through the air, and Ouma noticed how some of them pierced the bluenette’s skin, and how he didn’t yelp his cute “ _Ow!_ ” like he usually did whenever Kokichi jokingly pinched his skin or when he were to stub his toe. Shuichi was quiet, and perhaps that was the most unnerving about it all.  
  
‘Shuichi, dear’, Junko sighed dreamily, placing her hands at her face and kneading the flesh there in a way that reminded Ouma of those old ladies squeezing and pinching the cheeks of young ladies coming to visit. ‘Could you grab the knife?’. ‘Enough!’, Kokichi raised his voice, grip around the handle of the sword tightening once more. Enoshima raised a brow, looking at him with curious, if not humoured, eyes. Not that his words had any meaning to the enchanted Shuichi, of course. The boy obediently gripped onto one of the silver eating utensils. He stood there, expectantly, waiting. It pained Ouma to see him that way, and maybe he finally understood why Shuichi had been reluctant to get as close to Kokichi as he was now back when he was still his servant. It would have been the same sight, after all, although he’d seem more alive. Right now he looked like an empty hulse, forgettably not yet put six feet under like his soul had already been. 

‘...Enough’, repeated Ouma, his gaze lowering. ‘There’s no use to keeping this up. Just face me, and fight. Let’s get this shit show over with’, the purplenette continued, throwing up a shoulder to be a bit more nonchalant about it. Junko giggled however, shaking her head as she moved her feet to a rhythm that did not exist, surprisingly happy. ‘You don’t get it, do you?’, the woman hummed, raising an arm up. Her hand opened and gracefully she moved her fingers together, waving them towards Kokichi himself. Shuichi with this held up the knife, as though it had been a command, and Ouma noticed himself gulping. ‘What I am trying to show you, is that whatever you try, it’s not gonna work!’, Enoshima sighed, again seeming bored. Her mood swings were worse than Kokichi made his own seem, and that was saying something. ‘I can make anything happen, if there’s anything I want, I get it. Y’all may have came here tryna change fate or whatever the fuck you decided on calling it, you’re trying to play hero, but the only hero that’s going to live through this, is me’, Junko smiled at him, a strangely sad smile. 

‘I wouldn’t be so sure about that’, Kokichi retorted, stepping forward with a little more confidence. ‘Oh, puh-lease’, the girl groaned, hiding her face in her arms and crossing her together, slumping down into the throne again, her head falling back a bit. ‘If I wanted to, I wouldn’t even have to kill you _myself_ ! I could simply tell Shuichi to do it!’, the witch explained lazily, running a finger across the underside of her eye as if she was wiping a tear away. ‘Just as I did with your parents! Nothing is more despair inducing than seeing lovers fighting till death parts them!’, continued the lady, snickering to herself with the last joke she managed to get into that sentence.  
  
‘..Excuse me?’, Kokichi asked, his voice lower than it had been before. His face was blank. Enoshima didn’t seem that shocked at this though. She smiled manically, sitting up and facing the prince again. ‘Oh… you didn’t know?’, the pink haired woman asked with an obviously fake pity evident in her voice. ‘What.’, Kokichi muttered, ‘did you do to my parents?’. 

Enoshima swayed from her left to her right where she was sitting, her hands clutched together. ‘I was really doing you a favor, though! You never really liked your parents, did you?’, the woman dared to say, no remorse in her gaze. Ouma laughed quietly, a humorless laugh that strained his throat and cut through his vocal cords. ‘Oh, _miss_ Enoshima’, he spoke, sarcastically. The boy felt as far away from his own brain as he could be, but it didn’t matter. Now he needed that. This luckily seemed to surprise the woman a bit, and Kokichi didn’t falter his steps towards her, moving like a tiger trying to move in on its prey, although this time the prey was another lion. ‘You’re a joke’, the prince spat out, dark violet eyes setting on the girl. The scent of lavender went sour, and as Junko sniffed the air, she definitely noticed. The girl didn’t seem as much offended as she seemed disinterested, and somewhere that should’ve been a warning sign, but being in the state that he was, the purplenette didn’t pick up on it. 

‘If you’re too much of a coward to fight, you disgraced my parents, _my_ family, with your deeds’, the prince hummed, ‘which is why I won’t hesitate, _bitch_ !’. After the cry of those famous last words, Ouma dashed forward, sword raised and legs striding, feeling like his feet were barely touching the floor underneath him as he made his move towards the unrightful queen. However, as he took his swing at her, aggressively bringing his arms and the sword down towards the woman’s body and staring her down from the corner of her eye, the girl only waved a hand at him with a disinterest that he had yet to notice, and the swords was lost from is grip, clattering when it hit the floor.  
  
Enoshima stood up, moving towards the left side of the room easily, as Ouma could only stare at her, bending to pick up the sword quickly so he wouldn't be caught off guard again. ‘A coward, you say’, the strawberry blonde hummed sadly, raising one of the hands of the propped up knights made of steel, slipping the sword it was holding out of its grip and taking a hold of it herself. ‘It is most unfair of you to simply take a swing at someone that’s not expecting it, you know!’, she moaned, moving on her feet and stretching again. It was a way to mock the prince, he was fully aware of this. While they’d been fighting for their lives, this woman had easily taken over the throne. Quite literally so; she even built herself a real one. ‘So, how about we do some proper swords fighting?’, the lady smiled at him, taking a practiced swing with the sword she herself was holding, showing off.  
  
And fuck, for some reason it only now dawned on Kokichi that he was absolutely _terrible_ at swordsfighting. 

He’d never once won any type of duel. He’d been training fighting with the help of a sword for almost all his life, and he was trained by the one most skilled with the weapon whom he could call Miss Pekoyama, and yet he never managed to make progress. Sure, he could hold out with a fight long enough to find a way to escape and make a run for it, hoping that he’d tire out his opponent, but that was really all he knew how to do. Give him a horse and he could easily ride on it, give him a book and he could read through it in record time, give him a math equation and he would fix the answer for you in the little amount of time that most need to run up a flight of stairs, but if he was holding a sword, for some reason all his senses struggled against him. He wasn’t meant to fight. If he was meant to rule was debatable, but that he wasn’t meant to fight was for sure. 

‘Pay attention!’, the pig tailed girl screeched, again managing to snap the male out of his thoughts. ‘We’ll do it nice and clean, like a true duel! I’m a classy lady, ya know’. It was meant to set him off, and he was pretty sure it worked, as his chest felt heavy like someone had knocked him over and was putting their weight onto it. Was this what Shuichi felt every time he had to face a minor problem? Kokichi supposed it was. ‘What are you waiting for?’, Junko groaned disapprovingly, signing for him to come closer. She was impatient, Ouma noticed, but for what he wasn’t sure. He tilted his head, glad his senses could still pick up on that even though he was very much pissed off. ‘In a hurry?’, he asked, coming across brighter than he thought he would. ‘The longer you wait, the more tempted I am to call my guards to simply get rid of you. Now get. Over. Here.’, the lady snapped, her sword pointing towards Ouma.  
  
The male stood the ten meters apart from her, as he had once learned during duel training instead of his usual fighting lessons. He’d always found all the rules to be a superstitious load of bullcrap, but now he was somewhat glad for them; it would give him time, and for some reason he supposed that time was exactly what he needed. ‘Sword to the chest’, Enoshima said, holding it to her bigger chest gracefully, as she bowed a little, and Ouma did the same. Some of his purple hair that had been tied back had already jumped free, but he decided to ignore it. ‘Andddd, forward!’, she cheered, making little hops forward, right foot in front of the left one and keeping her sword close to herself as though she was holding a lance of some sort. With a little hesitation, Ouma did the same. His heartbeat sped up, knowing that this woman he would have to fight _for realsies_ , but unfortunately, he couldn’t really change anything about that fact.  
  
‘Swing, swing’, Junko commented once they were close enough, and Kokichi started to take his attack. She easily blocked his weapon every time, a small courtesy only mocking the prince further who was getting more annoyed and by that more nervous every second that passed. ‘And block!’, the pink haired woman chirped, taking a harsh and quick swing at Kokichi. He managed to hold his sword up and he kept the other from piercing through him, with a bit of strength bouncing the steel right off. ‘Such a good student you are’, the girl praised him sarcastically, mocking him for his lack of creativity with a sickeningly sweet grin. ‘Who can tell you’ve been doing this all your life, huh?’. 

‘Shut up, and use your sword instead of your mouth’, Ouma grumbled back, both hands gripping onto the blade as he threw his arms up, bringing the sword straight down. It was stopped mid air by Enoshima holding her own weapon up. The longer part of the blade was past Junko’s weapon, which was an advantage for the woman who stood up close to Kokichi, smirking into his face. ‘Don’t get too cocky’, she warned him with a wink, pulling back elegantly, and pushing some hair out of her face. Kokichi was pretty sure if he never learned how to control himself, he would be seething with rage by now, but he was already quite proud he lasted longer than during his usual training sessions with Pekoyama. ‘Don’t get too careless’, he warned her in return as she had her hand to her hair, only lifting his weapon a little before dashing forward and bringing it down harsly again. This way the swing did not have as much power as it would have were he to start it up fully, but it did come as more of a surprise.  
  
‘God, you’re so _boring_ !’, Junko explained, with the one free hand swinging her own weapon up. It hit Kokichi’s sword diagonally, but with the press sideways, the weapon slipped from his hands. It flew through the air, the same time that the girl expressively yawned. Before the object could hit the floor, he could hear the clattering of something smaller falling to the ground, ominously like it was some sort of prequel to what was about to come, and shortly after the loud clashing of the beautiful fighting utensil hitting a stop on the ground was bursting through the space. Enoshima wore the most concerningly manic expression that Ouma had seen on her so far. She lowered her weapon, the point of it hitting the floor softly, and tentatively started to take slow steps towards Ouma, dragging the sword with her. ‘Gotcha now, my little puppet’.  
  
 _‘Skin like porcelain’, Junko muttered as her skilled hands rubbed a strange type of ointment over the cheeks of the still creature, with a small smirk at her work. Lights flickered, and the queen took a startled step back as she grabbed the arm of her husband that tried to calm her down a bit. ‘Face like an angel’, the witch continued, her voice getting a little more shrill. The lights flickered off, but the candles she had brought turned on at once. One of the servants that noticed this happening fell backwards as she fainted. Still, the boy was nothing more than an wax effigy, uncolored and lifeless._

The dreams that reappeared and kept on reappearing whenever Ouma was trying to get some rest came to life, he was sure of it. He tried to run, he always tried, but he couldn’t move. He was nothing more than a wax effigy, a string puppet, a porcelain doll that was made for Junko Enoshima to eventually be able to take advantage of. And was it even possible to fight off one’s creator? He wasn’t sure. She knew everything about him, every nook and cranny of his abilities and what he was not as abled at, which brought her a huge advantage for sure. To die at the hands of the one that created him, was that really what fate had in store for him? When he fell, the walls would fall, and when he died, the kingdom would die. Was that truly how it was supposed to be?  
  
As Junko raised her sword, Kokichi threw a glance over his shoulder, seeing that his own weapon had slid to the far back of the room. It would take him a bit to get over there, and once Enoshima would figure out the dagger is what he was reaching for, he for sure wouldn’t be able to make it there. He could see where the pink haired woman tried to land her hit, and he jumped backwards as she did so. Junko chuckled at this, brokenly so. ‘Pathetic’, she told him cutely, dragging forward. It seemed to be costing her quite the power, which was rather weird, but he ignored this, knowing that it might as well have been a distraction to get him to lower his guard. Again, he looked behind him, not noticing how the pieces of plate that Shuichi had broken before reached where he was walking, and one particularly big one was placed nastily underneath his foot as he tried to step backwards, bringing him out of balance. Ouma fell backwards, a despairing feeling settling in his chest as he did so. His back hit the floor harshly with no mercy, pushing the air out of his lungs and making him cough in pain. 

A foot was placed onto his chest, and looking down on him was Junko Enoshima, with not much of a smile; she looked rather bland, like this. It was perhaps the most truthful moment that they were sharing, and Ouma couldn’t bring it up to try and look at her, truly look at her. At the miserable, disgusting person that had the audacity to call herself a witch. He felt like crying, truly did, as her heels dug into his chest and her sword was held onto her shoulder, one hand on her hip to look down at him. Mockery, he’d always loved it, but seeing it on the face of this cruel person was more painful than the pieces of sharp porcelain that stuck into his back from where he was laying.  
  
‘Whatever fate you believe in’, Junko muttered to him, as though it was a secret of hers to tell, ‘it’s false’. Ouma could feel those dangerous tears pooling in the corners of his eyes. He wasn’t necessarily afraid of dying, that wasn’t the case. He just didn’t think it would be something like this. The feeling of nearing death was painful, and one that he couldn’t easily accept, definitely when he had someone to fight for. That someone were to obviously die as well after him, and maybe it was better that way, Kokichi could selfishly hear himself think. If the world was this cruel, it didn’t deserve Shuichi Saihara. ‘There’s no such thing as “equality”’, Enoshima spat out as though the words were disgusting to her, pointing her lance down and making the tip of it touch Kokichi’s throat that lay open and bare. ‘People won’t listen to our kind. They never have, and never will. They crave destruction, that is what they truly want. They deserve to die, all of them’.  
  
A strange type of shuffling was heard if Ouma pressed his ears close to the floor, but he couldn’t pay attention to it. Junko’s eyes were spouting madness and she was the depiction of what one would call “too long and too far”. The sword pressed down a little, and Ouma gasped, feeling a warm, yet fairly small stream of blood trickling down his throat from the small point that she’d dug into his skin. ‘Humans shouldn’t be those who rule. They are ruled by their aspirations and their desire for power. _We_ should be taking over this world. There’s no place for those who are too weak to accept this’, Enoshima chuckled. She awed down at him as Kokichi hissed, more drops of the cursed water leaving his eyes. ‘There is no place for those willing to give up everything to listen to those stupid creatures that think they should be above all others’, the witch continued, biting her lip as she started to give the weapon a little more pressure. Ouma couldn’t scream, not if he didn’t want his throat to forcibly rip open. 

And yet, anticipated death and the worse pain he was expecting didn’t come. Instead, a strangely pained yell was heard, and the pressure on his throat lightened up quite the bit.  
  
Shuichi had woken up from the trance he’d been in around the same time that Kokichi’s sword went flying through the air. He had needed a moment to assess the situation, being completely off balance for the fact he was somewhere he hadn’t been before, and he didn’t remember what he did, but he was holding a knife that slipped from his hands immediately. Keeping one in a certain state of mind was energy draining to Junko, and although she didn’t realise this, she needed her energy to keep her act up, which meant the grip she had on the bluenette was loosening quite the bit. He figured that he needed to be quiet and use the fact she didn’t know about him being back to his senses as an advantage, but he also needed to be quick if he didn’t want his boyfriend to die at the hands of Enoshima. He’d read that witches couldn’t directly kill humans, but it didn’t say that humans couldn’t kill them in return anywhere. 

As soon as he finally had that weapon in hand, he ran towards the woman that was standing over Ouma, and lunged it forward with all his might. The sword easily pierced through her skin, and reached the end of her chest, ripping through it and coming out at her back as well. Shuichi held it there, seeing how the witch stood still for a moment, staring at him with big, shocked eyes. He was standing over Ouma, in front of him, protecting him, and he’d stabbed his sword right into the heart of the witch. He too stared at her, panting. He felt weak; he felt like his energy had been drained when Junko had taken control of him completely, and the fact that he could still manage to lunge forward was quite the surprise to him too.  
  
Enoshima’s lance fell to the floor, leaving Ouma’s throat where it had cut him, luckily only slightly. Her hands convulsively reached to the blade of the weapon that was pushed through her, and she looked down at it with big eyes. Her long lashes rested on her cheeks, and for a moment, she almost seemed like she herself had been the wax effigy all along, not Kokichi. A single tear rolled down her cheek, but that was about all of the emotion the woman showed as her body grew pale, and she staggered where she stood, looking back up at Shuichi who had now let go of the sword. Hands that gripped the blade were cut by it, but she didn’t seem to mind this, blood flowing freely from her chest and hitting the ground in thick crimson drops. ‘D- _despair..._ ’, the woman muttered, before her knees buckled and her legs gave in, and she sagged onto the floor, puffing out one last breath. Only silence followed. For a moment, Shuichi could see the ends of her hair turn the sea blue color that he could recognize anywhere by now, but in a flicker of time, it was gone.  
  
Heavy breathing was the only sound filling the room up right at that moment. Shuichi stood, wide eyed looking at what he had done, even if he was aware that this was for the best. Where Enoshima had dropped, a smoke started to rise up, a dark one that should have probably been a representation of her soul, but to Saihara only symbolised the death he had caused. Still, he shook his head sternly, deciding to deny himself that extra panic attack material. It was her death, the death of a witch who’d done more bad than good in her life and who had ended many more, or the death of innocent citizens. His choice had been a good one, logically he understood this. She had been the cause of Kiibo’s death as well, and a revenge was certainly in place. He didn’t bother to stand still by the fact that Junko’s body was turning into an ash as the blood seeped through her shirt; he was fairly glad to be alive himself, if he had to be honest. 

‘Ou- Kokichi, are you okay?’, the bluenette asked as soon as he realised he wasn’t alone in there, and he turned to the purplenette, letting out a choked noise when he saw him lying on the ground, a small stream of blood having dried up on his throat. ‘Just peachy’, the guy muttered back with a hoarse voice, coughing up the nerves he’d felt before; obviously thinking he was about to die wasn’t a great thing to him. The aspiring detective rushed to his side, kneeling down and holding his hands out, cupping the boy’s face worriedly. ‘Does it hurt, will you be alright?’, the questions sped from his lips as the bluenette rambled in worry, and Ouma gave him a careful look. ‘I’ll be fine, the cut’s not that deep. I’m just pissed that I was working my ass off trying to fight that bitch, and you managed to floor her in one try. Unfair’.  
  
Needless to say that Shuichi wasn’t that worried about his boyfriend anymore after he said those words. 

The two of them got up, leaving the blooded sword behind by the ash that once was Enoshima. The room smelled of death, and it was nauseating, so they decided they wanted to leave as quick as possible. They went back the exact way they came, down the stairs and into the hall. Memories of moments were called back to Shuichi as he walked past those halls he used to walk through daily, both sad and happy ones. It was weird how much he’d been through in the limited amount of time he’d had inside of this castle.   
  
‘Shuichi’, Ouma started carefully, reaching out a hand for the other to take as he ceased his walking, and carefully the bluenette reached out to him, fingers intertwining. ‘Maybe it is a good idea if I go and find our friends on my own’, the purple haired prince continued, letting out a small sigh as he finished with a ‘if what Enoshima said about torturing them is true, I do not want you to walk in on yet another sight of your friends in misery’. Shuichi blinked at him, staying quiet for a moment, but his other hand grasped onto Ouma’s as well. He knew that the boy meant well, and it was a rather pleasant idea to leave everything to him, really, but at the same time, they are their friends. Shuichi couldn’t just leave everything to the prince in this regard. He needed to see them all, for himself. He needed to be there when they were finally freed from their prison. ‘I can handle it, honest’, the aspiring detective replied softly. He tried to eye the other in a way that would tell him he was being truthful, and apparently it worked, since he didn’t need much convincing. ‘Alright’, Ouma nodded, gesturing for them to go on, ‘I’ll show you the way to the cellar’. 


	25. They're Ready

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once upon a time, not that long ago actually, there lived two healthy kings in the kingdom that nowadays doesn’t go by any name anymore, but back then, people called it the “Lavender Kingdom” to honor its prettiest flowers that were found across most of the beautiful countryside.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:
> 
> We have reached the end of this project I have worked on for several months. It's truly insane how I managed to work it through completely, and to be honest I am kind of releaved to be able to end it in a way that I wanted to. 
> 
> I'm sorry if the chapter feels a little rushed. I have tried my best to write everything slowly. It is past 1 am right now and I'm very much tired, so I won't reread.   
> (also rodents are mentioned, and if someone dares to make a racist comment towards any of the characters, this whole class is gonna feel my wrath).
> 
> Trigger warning: panic attacks, gore, etc.

After leaving the room where they had found and where Ouma had managed to defeat Enoshima, Shuichi followed Kokichi closely behind where he had promised to lead them to the cellar. The evil witch that had been the cause of everything was dead now, but unfortunately this didn’t mean that they were no longer in danger; being inside of this kingdom was already risky on itself, considering the fact the residents were aware that Ouma was a witch as well. It made the bluenette a little sad to think about the possibility that they would still be captured after the worst was over, and put right back at that stake they’d once stood as if everything had been for nothing, but for now he pushed his thoughts in a different direction; it was more important to assure their friends were safe.  
  
Ikusaba had told them their friends were captured and kept inside of the castle, held underground behind bars and likely having been unable to ever go above ground during their capturement, so that was where they were heading. The castle itself was big and well lit, so the travel towards the door that would lead them to their destination already proved to be quite difficult; the prince was used to snooping around in the castle and could be a very stealthy thief if he wanted to be, but Shuichi was still trying to get the hang of everything, and couldn’t quite get all of his senses to be on guard. Some servants did pass them so now and then, and every time Saihara had to remind himself that the faces he used to know also knew him and had only been fed misinformation by their superior at the time so wouldn’t be afraid to immediately call the guards on the two trespassers. Hiding in open rooms and behind walls did the trick, but swiftness during this act was something Shuichi struggled with. Fortunately for them, they were not caught at the time they reached the big door to the stairwell that led in the right direction.  
  
As Kokichi opened the heavy looking door with some difficulty doing so, the dangerously steep and big stairway revealed itself, blank stone walls having certain small holes in them that were only big enough to fit small candle holders with red candles in, the very little lighting making sure to give Shuichi the creeps. ‘Well, I didn’t start about this before because I didn’t want to bring your mood down even more’, the former prince spoke as his pale hand that wasn’t carrying a sword reached to grab a hold of Saihara’s wrist, and the bluenette let him. It was a kind gesture. ‘But there is a small problem, with the cellar’. Shuichi blinked, a feeling of dread once again filling his body. ‘What is it?’, he asked, hoping his voice wasn’t betraying the feeling he had; today he’d been through enough adventures for a lifetime, and he was hoping the rescuing mission would be a simple and clean one.  
  
Kokichi, only faintly visible due to the bad lighting, hummed quietly and looked straight ahead, starting to move his feet and bring the both of them down. Their footsteps sounded loudly through the space they were walking down; they bounced off the walls and made Shuichi think so now and then that someone with smaller sounding footsteps was following them, but he was fairly certain this was just his paranoid mind making him hear things. ‘Our cellar is more of a… dungeon, really’, the purplenette muttered, squeezing the skin underneath his fingers softly in a reassuring manner. ‘There are… a lot of cells, and I am not sure where Enoshima has locked the servants up, and if they’re all together. I should have probably asked Ikusaba, but because of the hurry we were in trying not to get caught, I failed to… my apologies’. 

Shuichi felt a little weird hearing Ouma apologize, and genuinely so. He never had before, at least not that the aspiring detective could recall, and it made Saihara feel a little ill at ease to be met with this sudden change in manners. ‘Y-you couldn’t help it’, he told the smaller male as it was his turn to make the other feel better for his mistake, instead of the other way around as per usual. ‘No one would’ve thought of that in your position’, Shuichi continued, also convincing himself in this way. Of course he wasn’t mad at Kokichi for making this mistake, but he did feel like they had been at enough disadvantages for today, so they really didn’t need another one. He kept quiet about this however as they walked down the stairs, holding onto the hand that Kokichi had lent him gratefully. The steps were broad and sometimes Shuichi thought the walls weren’t actually there and if he made one wrong step he’d fall through them into a dark hole. He wouldn’t want to think about how deep this place truly was. 

‘Ah!’, Shuichi yelped as he felt something furry rush past his legs and reaching his angles, grabbing onto the smaller guy next to him. They stopped their walking for a moment as Ouma almost let his weapon fall, trying to hide the worry that was laced through his voice as he said a soft ‘what’s wrong?’. Shuichi slowly started to calm down, and felt his cheeks heat up as he realised that what he felt must have been a mouse or rat of some kind; nothing to really get him so worked up over. ‘S-sorry’, the bluenette said bashfully, taking his distance and letting Ouma breathe from where he clamped onto him before. He had been on edge of course because of the happenings of today, but it was still embarrassing. ‘I thought I felt something… it was probably just a mouse’.   
  
Shuichi figured that they would continue their small journey down the stairs again after he said that, but as he wanted to walk further, Kokichi stopped him with his hand. ‘Are you sure you felt something?’, he asked, voice deeper than it was before, and it was making Saihara feel a bit uncomfortable again. Was he really sure? He did seem to hear very small footsteps before, but that for sure must have been a trick his mind played on him. Still, something with fur definitely shot past his lower legs moments ago. ‘Y-yeah, I think so. As I said, it wasn’t that big, so it must have been some type of rat’, Shuichi replied, nodding to himself as if to confirm that statement. It wasn’t unheard of that mouses and other creatures lived inside of these types of dark, moldy places. 

‘Shuichi’, Kokichi started carefully, his voice sounded somewhat collected and calculated, which usually meant he wasn’t. Although Shuichi was aware they both had changed very much ever since meeting each other, for better and perhaps for worse in some regards, some things never changed, and Ouma still very much was a walking contradiction. ‘I don’t really want to disturb you, but uh…’, he continued, chuckling awkwardly, rocking on his heels were he was standing. Shuichi faintly heard the sound, but he didn’t fully register it as he was awaiting what the boy wanted to say. It didn’t seem like it could be anything good. ‘Rodents are particular creatures, you see’, Kokichi explained, the soft flickering of candle light showing his purple eyes so now and then as they were trying to find Shuichi’s gaze, but failing. ‘They can live through all types of weather, and they can survive all kinds of illnesses that we humans can’t, I have read’. ‘Wh-where are you going with this?’, Shuichi asked quietly, wondering if they even had the time to be talking about this, but Ouma didn’t seem to want to end his monologue. Faintly Saihara could hear a yell from inside of the castle that only partially managed to reach the cellar, and it fitted his mood quite well. ‘However, there are some plants that they hate and will always try to stay away from. Lavender… is one of those. This kingdom has been rodent free ever since it was established’. 

Shuichi felt like he was going to be sick. Was he truly just feeling things, hearing things? Was he truly slowly going insane, just like that? Surely Kokichi wouldn’t lie about something that had such an impact, would he? The bluenette felt himself getting a little dizzy, and he was glad that the boy next to him was holding his hand, as he wasn’t sure if he was going to fall over if he didn’t have that little body warmth to bring him back to the here and now. ‘D-do you mean… I’m just… I..’, Saihara spoke, his voice coming out in gasps like it usually would when he was starting to panic. ‘No, no I’m not doubting your senses, Saihara-chan’, Ouma immediately reassured him, the hand that was holding his letting go only for it to cup his cheek. ‘You’re alright, m’kay? I’m sure of it’, Kokichi told him sternly, noticing how Shuichi wasn’t really certain about this fact, and his breathing kept on getting more ragged.  
  
‘Shuu’, Kokichi spoke, bending to lay down the weapon on the step they were currently standing on, so his other hand too could reach Shuichi's face. He pulled it down a little so they were on the same level. ‘Look at me’, the smaller guy said, in a way that made it sound like an order. There was a weird aura around the male, but not one that was unpleasant. It felt quite nice, actually, now that Shuichi thought about it. It was as though he was emitting a sternly caring, superior wasn’t really the word for it but it came closest to what Saihara considered the feeling, energy. He let himself look into those purple eyes that demanded him to, and even with the little bit of lighting there was, he could see the soft gleam in them as the purplenette looked at him. ‘You’re not going mad. Wanna know how I know so?’, the prince asked. His voice was filled with a confidence that Shuichi couldn’t find in himself, and that was perhaps the most reassuring part about it all. The aspiring detective nodded.  
  
Ouma smiled a little, the corners of his lips moving only slightly to achieve the natural smile. Shuichi never really thought about how beautiful the boy was when he was being genuine, showing himself with all the bad and good that came with it, but now he found himself engulfed in the thought. If someone had told him right after he had just met the prince that Kokichi Ouma would one day smile at him like this, filled with care and actual emotion, confidence and assurance, Shuichi would’ve thought they were crazy, and yet here he was. ‘Your eyes, Saihara-chan’, the purplenette muttered softly, grip on the cheeks of the aspiring detective very soft and carefully chosen to press enough to assure him the hold was strong, but not as hard as to hurt him in any way. ‘Even if you can lie so very well when you want to, I always manage to find out, because your eyes are so very honest. Even when it’s dark like this, I can see you in there, beloved, and I know I can believe in you’, Kokichi finished, ending with difficulty at the lump that formed in his throat when he neared the end. When Enoshima had him in a trance, Shuichi’s eyes had seemed so dull, and Ouma didn’t want to think about that image anymore. It made him feel powerless. He had power, though, and he was aware of this more than ever.  
  
Shuichi actually managed to calm down after the male had said this, blinking and shifting his gaze away. ‘I-I’m sorry, for keeping you waiting like that’, he muttered, hoping he wouldn’t have to apologize much more today, but he had a feeling that this wasn’t the last apology he would be giving. ‘Don’t worry about it, it’s fine. I’m more concerned about whatever it was that you actually did feel’, Kokichi commented, moving towards the wall and sticking his hand in the hole that kept a candle, taking it out. He could see a little more clearly now, and he shined the light in front of them.  
  
Shuichi wasn’t sure about what he thought beforehand he would see, but this was something he definitely wasn’t expecting. ‘Destiny!’, the bluenette sputtered, the beautiful white furred cat trailing across the step that was two steps down from where they were, purring ever so quietly. He had almost forgotten about her due to all the commotion and hurry, but there she was, the small cat that seemed far more intelligent than anyone would think of a pet. 

‘What are you doing here, hun?’, Shuichi asked the cat as though she could really respond when he kneeled next to her and held out a hand, which she immediately nuzzled her head into. He was definitely glad to see that the cat still recognized him. She looked much thinner than she had looked when she just came into the castle, and Saihara felt very bad as he understood no one must have really cared for her much after they left, since it was the cat that the witch and his accomplice had owned. She surely must have had difficulty getting enough food. If only they had enough time to get away, he could’ve taken her with them to Hajime’s and Nagito’s place up in the mountains. She probably would get along with Hope and Lucky, the cats that those two owned. Destiny mewed softly, pressing her nose into Shuichi’s hand, before she hopped down one of the steps elegantly, and looked at him expectantly.  
  
‘Well, I sure am glad that it wasn’t some other shapeshifter we had to fight again. I almost feel like I’m in some type of video game with all these challenges’, Kokichi said, letting out a childish sounding sigh which Shuichi paid no attention to. He had picked up the sword again and in his free hand he kept the candle since it was easier that way not to accidentally tumble down those stairs. Experimentally, Saihara too took a step down like the cat had done, and watched as she hopped down another one, again looking at him. ‘Hey, Ouma-kun, I think she wants to show us something’, the bluenette muttered. ‘You’re- the  _ cat?’,  _ Kokichi asked, his voice raised no higher than the hushed whispers they had gotten used to exchanging when they sneaked through the castle the last couple of hours. Shuichi, who had gained his calmth and self again, sent him a sharp glare. ‘Just follow her!’.  
  
‘Alright, I take back my statements from before, you’ve definitely gone nuts’, the prince complained, but he was hushed by the bluenette that told him to suck it in those words exactly, stunning the purplenette to silence.  
  
Although Kokichi wasn’t feeling certain about following a pet around, Shuichi seemed to trust the cat in where she was going, and they were walking down flights and flights of stairs fairly quickly. ‘How did you do that, by the way?’, Shuichi asked after a moment of silence. ‘Do what?’, the purplenette responded, adding a sneery ‘or are you talking to the cat?’, after it, something he seemingly didn’t want to let go that easily. Saihara chose to ignore it. ‘The… the thing you did, to help me calm down? I… you emitted some weird aura. It was like the lavender scent that’s around you and changes sometimes, but in a different way. It was stronger’, Shuichi explained, scratching his neck sheepishly. Ouma hummed, blinking. He wasn’t expecting the question, Shuichi supposed. ‘I’m not sure. I guess I was aware of having power, and used it’, the guy explained vaguely. ‘So you could control it?’, Saihara questioned him, smiling a little bit. That would mean some sort of progress had been made by the younger witch. ‘I suppose so’, Kokichi told him, voice faltering as Destiny stopped walking near a certain floor. There were doors to both the right and left, but the female cat moved to the left one, scratching it.  
  
‘Alright, I will admit, that  _ is _ weird’, Ouma muttered, eyes a little wide. The right side of this underground building was mostly used by different types of storage, most of it consisting of fine wine that was categorized in a way that the more down you go into the cellar, the older the wine will be. On the left side they kept prisoners, although they hadn’t had prisoners for a very long time, not until Shirogane (Enoshima) came and took over everything. Shuichi shot him a look which said  _ I told you so  _ without words, one that for the sake of his pride the prince ignored, and he no longer complained as the bluenette opened the door and obediently followed the cat further into the maze of halls. The white cat seemed to know exactly where she was going without a doubt, and although it slightly creeped Ouma out, he also couldn’t help but to feel a little amazed. 

These halls were just as dark and bland as the staircase had been, cold stone going high up and ending promptly where there was a roof of the same color. The place smelled musty and old and Shuichi hoped he wouldn’t have to stay in here for too long of a time. Destiny was really keeping them moving though, and she was quickening her pace almost excitedly as her little head with pointed ears so now and then nudged them to follow her, her long and sharp-ending tail up in the air almost excitedly. They had been walking through the silent place quite some time, the only sounds they heard being each other’s whispers and footsteps. However, the further they walked, they slowly but surely were able to hear some mumbles of different voices not that far from where they were. 

For a moment Shuichi slowed his pace to listen closely to what was being said, and now he could focus on the actual voices his eyes widened. ‘That’s Amami’s voice, isn’t it?!’, he whisper-yelled to the smaller guy next to him, who too seemed to try and listen in on what was being said. Before Ouma could answer, Saihara sped up, rushing towards where he was aware the sound was coming from, Destiny easily keeping up with him. The hall they were now running through had different steel doors with thick bars in a smaller gap that must have served as some type of windows to look through for when guards had to check on the inmates. One of the doors, the one they were heading to which was on the far end of this hallway, wasn’t as closed shut as all of the others were; it was ajar but only a little bit, a couple of inches. Perhaps the last person that had entered this room had forgotten to close it off right. 

Their footsteps as both boys were running towards this door were loud enough to alarm the people that were locked up inside the cells of the room, as their voices started to sound more hushed, perhaps aware that talking loudly wouldn’t have given them any advantage if it were simply guards trying to check in on them. Shuichi held onto the handle of the heavy door that was opened too little for him to be able to fit through, and pulled onto it. His arms felt rather weak however, and he wasn’t able to open it fully. ‘Kichi, can you give me a hand?’, he asked, bracing his own arms to try and get a little more strength, but still failing the action.  
  
‘Shuichi? That was Shuichi’s voice, wasn’t it?’, a higher voice sounded from inside of the room they were trying to get into, one that Shuichi recognized belonged to Chihiro. He had to try his hardest not to yell right back at them that he was indeed out there, that he was going to come and help them and hopefully bring them to a safe place, but as he reminded himself that they were still basically fugitives former prince Ouma and he had to try their very best not to make their presence known to other guards that could possibly be walking through any of these halls right now. The cellar had seemed rather empty and not as full of life as the castle had been upon their arrival, but you never know. One couldn’t be too careful in their situation. So, instead of responding, as soon as Kokichi had once again laid down the weapon and candle he was holding and helped him pull the door open, the servants could see for themselves who was coming in.  
  
Rantaro, Kaito and Chihiro immediately stepped forward upon seeing their friends, their hands clammed around the bars they were stuck behind, wide eyed and some of them with small smiles on their faces, if not with a worried glint in their eyes. The boys were in the cell that was built on the left side of where Shuichi and Kokichi entered, and Tojo and Tsumiki were stuck on the right side. Kirumi Tojo too looked at them with a certain hope in her eyes, but managed to keep her calm as she held an unconscious Mikan Tsumiki close to her body. All of them looked thinner than they had before, they had bags under their eyes and Shuichi noticed how there were no actual beds in the cells, and even though the room was filled with a sense of despair and everyone looked absolutely horrible, the bluenette couldn’t help but to tear up as he saw their friends.  
  
He moved to the bars where the guys were standing, noticing the door made of the same material with a big lock that was making them unable to get out. ‘W-we’re here to get you guys out’, Shuichi promised them softly, as Kokichi moved over to the small rack that was nailed to the wall in a position where no one would be able to reach for it, which held the keys for both of the cells. The aspiring detective was able to take a good look at his friends and colleagues, noticing how their clothes were dirtied and making them look undignified, how their hairs stuck to their heads and how they wore small bruises. The corners of Kaito’s mouth were blooded, and Shuichi gulped as he saw this, trying not to tear up, but failing to as his eyes moved over to look at Amami, who had a big, red and blue tinted bruise near his temple, scratches visible underneath it as well. Chihiro’s wrists that were visible as his shirt sleeves rode up where he gripped onto the steel bars, were bruised as well, as he’d definitely harshly been pulled into this cell. Tojo was the least injured of all of them, but the woman held the girl that was mostly pummeled as it seemed. She was having trouble keeping her eyes open, and standing didn’t seem to be an option for her. A small whimper left the detective that felt a horrible, _ horrible _ guilt sink into his stomach as he saw this. 

‘Shuichi’, Rantaro spoke, using his first name for a change, and snapping the bluenette out of his thoughts. Kokichi had found the right key that was on the key chain he had snatched from that rack to open the door for Kirumi and Mikan, carefully helping them out. ‘Please, don’t feel any guilt towards us. We made our own decision to help you. I’m glad you’re here, and safe’, the green haired male continued, looking to those around him, ‘and I’m sure I’m speaking for everyone here’. ‘Let’s get them out of here, Shu’, Kokichi muttered to him, carefully pushing him aside to be able to reach the door that held the male servants locked in, and opening it.  
  
Even though Fujisaki had been happy to see the bluenette again, his eyes didn’t dare to meet his own as soon as they too were helped out of the cell. He especially had dark circles underneath his eyes, and Shuichi wondered if he even had any sleep at all during his stay in the cellar. The brunette looked a bit awkward, but most of all he looked very tired and very pained, more in a mental way than in a physical way. His hand was twitching and his body seemed to shake slightly, reminding Saihara of his own panic attacks, but in a more pitiful way. The boy’s eyes were duller, not as sprankling as the bluenette remembered them being back when they were both still servants and the guy had easily befriended him. Chihiro opened his mouth to say something, but like a fish that had been flushed onto the coast and was trapped in the sand with no way out, no noise was coming out of him, the lips closing themselves so now and then as though he kept on changing his mind on what to say, if he even wanted to say anything at all.  
  
He was aware of what he had caused, after all. He had been the cause of everything, and no matter what Amami told him about these thoughts, he couldn’t believe otherwise. It had taken Fujisaki a while to understand that when he had tried to save the kingdom by telling on Kokichi, he had actually caused a chain of reactions that would eventually bring the entire land down. It wasn’t Shuichi that had been under Kokichi’s influence as he had initially feared, no, it was  _ he  _ that had been under  _ Shirogane _ ’s influence. He had befriended the worst witch of them all, the woman herself that had brought an end to Kiyotaka’s life which both felt like such a long time ago and only a matter of days ago at the same time. He had been wrong, so very wrong to put every single witch in the same place, and he only understood this as Amami told him everything he had found on his travels, and he had enough time to think about it being captured in the cell. Sure, logically speaking it was only logical that after what happened to his friend and having no information about any other creature out there he didn’t trust anyone that was possibly a witch, but still. He wanted to be gentle and kind, and he wanted to be confident and fearless like Mondo was, and yet his fear had caused all of this despair. It had caused deaths, it had caused problems, it had caused tears. Truth be truth, he didn’t think he could possibly express the guilt he felt.  
  
Which was exactly the reason why he cowered away as Shuichi, the man he once called a friend who turned into a victim of his own cowardness, approached him carefully. He had every right to be mad, and to lash out on him and to be horrible to him like how Shirogane, or who he probably should be calling Enoshima had been to him to his point of breaking, but he didn’t. No, instead, Shuichi’s arms pulled him into a careful hug, leaving him shocked and in this way stunned to silence. 

‘I am not mad at you’, Shuichi told him quietly, sighing softly as he still held his friend, who was trembling in his arms. ‘ _ Why _ ?’, Fujisaki managed to get out, his throat hoarse and again feeling those stupid tears pool at his eyes. He didn’t understand. ‘Well.. I have to admit, I was mad at you at first. Seething, even’, Saihara hummed, blinking, and not letting go of Chihiro. ‘But… I understand. I should’ve hid the book better, for starters, but what is more important is that people should have been informed about… non-human creatures far better than they have been. You can’t help it that with the limited knowledge that was offered to you, you came to fear witches’, Shuichi explained, ignoring how the smaller guy’s tears trickled down the boy’s cheeks and stained his shirt. Everyone was watching them, with a bit of curiosity but also with a knowing look, as they knew that Saihara was right. ‘I-I..’, Fujisaki choked up, blinking harshly as he tried to get those damned tears out of his eyes, but there only kept on getting more and more in the way of his sight. ‘I’m sorry, I-I’m so sorry’, he finally managed to speak in small sobs, clutching onto his friends’ shirt and burying his head into his chest as he shook with each sob, unable to quiet himself down where the bluenette shushed him and told him it was alright, and no one was mad at him.  
  
A hand tapped onto Shuichi’s shoulder, and the boy turned his head, meeting Kokichi’s lavender eyes. ‘Shuichi, we need to get moving again’, the prince spoke with a hint of remorse in his voice. The aspiring detective nodded once in understanding. ‘C’mon, Fujisaki-kun, let’s get out of here’, Saihara told him, before carefully letting go of the guy and turning towards Ouma. ‘Where are we heading?’. ‘We’ll get out the same way we came in, I think that is our best bet right now’, Kokichi responded easily, the sword in hand again. ‘Now we should just hope that no one has come across the ashes that Enoshima left behind’. 

‘You managed to defeat Enoshima?’, Tojo spoke up, one arm of Mikan slung over her shoulder were she somehow still gracefully managed to hold the poor nurse up. ‘Don’t sound so surprised, you’re making me feel bad’, the prince pouted, bringing his free hand to his cheek to wipe away a non-existent tear. The woman only smiled a little bit. ‘I suppose it was not your sword fighting skill that managed to do the trick?’, she asked, cracking Kaito up, who coughed in the process of laughing as he was probably still in pain. Kokichi’s frown and pout only grew as he pointed the sword towards her. The silver haired lady didn’t feel threatened one bit. ‘You’re so mean to me, you evil maid! I came all the way over here to save your sorry ass, and here you are, roasting the shit out of me!’, the purplenette whined, ignoring the funny looks the others gave them. 

The little show the prince had put on somehow helped the others to feel more at ease, and the energy in the room was no longer as despairing as it had been before. It was more hopeful in a way that Shuichi couldn’t truly explain, but he understood. Things may not go back to normal completely, but there was hope there were some things that would change for the better, and some that would change back to how they once were. With this new feeling the pair led the prisoners they freed from their cells back up those long stairs, all the way back to the first heavy and tall door they had to open to get back into the castle.  
  
It was true that the cellar had seemed unoccupied except for those taken in. There were no servants or members of the royal guard that stopped them on their way going upstairs, and it almost seemed too easy to get there.  _ Almost _ being the keyword in that sentence. They still kept quiet, and every single noise that could mean danger had everyone in this crowd of servants and the prince stop dead in their tracks to be certain it had just been another stone that had crumbled off of the old stone staircase that had made the noise, and not someone ready to ambush them. The higher up they got however, the more noise they could hear coming from inside of the palace. 

‘Wh-what’s going on?’, Chihiro was the first to whisper as he stayed closer to Rantaro, holding his hand onto his upper arm to assure himself he was still in fact walking with the group and not being left alone. ‘I’m not sure’, Shuichi replied, taking himself by surprise. He had taken on more of a leading role for the group, together with Kokichi of course, and the purplenette seemed to notice, as a strangely proud look was sent his way by the other, making Saihara blush lightly. ‘I think the other servants may have figured out something is off’, Tojo thought out loud. The words made for all of them to stop their strides shortly as though it had been a command, but knowing their situation meant they couldn’t stay still for too long of a time they reluctantly continued walking. ‘This may change the plan’, Ouma told them, a finger to his lips as he thought about it for a moment. ‘If the staff is aware, it may be only moments before the village is aware. Sneaking around the castle to get all the way back to where we entered may take too long, and we’ll definitely be captured. I think our best bet may be to go straight to the front door’, he explained further with a hum, this plan being confirmed by the nodding of the others. It wasn’t like people would expect them to walk through the castle’s actual door anyway, since it would seem too stupid of a plan for the guards to consider, and that may have made it all the more clever.  
  
The door that would lead them outside wasn’t far away from the one they had now reached. They waited a moment as the purplenette placed his ear against the dark wood to make sure no one was out there. All the yelling and commotion in and around the castle didn’t seem to be in the main hall however as it sounded more muffled, and he quickly gestured for the others that they were alright and good to go. Amami and Momota pulled the door open so the purplenette didn’t have to drop his weapon once again. With the prince wielding his weapon and Shuichi holding his fists up for the picture in front of them, the group entered the hall. When really no one seemed to be in there, everyone let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. They were tense, but things were going alright. It seemed like fate may have been on their side for now.  
  
‘We have no time to lose’, Rantaro reminded them, running a hand through his green hair. It was a bit more unruly than usual; Shuichi supposed that he wasn’t really allowed to have a hairbrush on him during his imprisonment. They rushed to the big front door of the palace after these words, and without hesitation pulled them open to reveal… 

A big group of people.  
  
A very, very big group of people.  
  
And to say they looked just a little mad, frightened and murderous was the understatement of the year.  
  
Shuichi’s face fell, seeing all types of citizens with pitchforks, torches and angry faces as though they were going to slay a beast. They were waiting for them out there in a big group, and judging by the yells that some of them made to which in return more men, women and kids rushed towards them from the other sides of the castle, they hadn’t just been camping out in this area. ‘Back inside, back inside!’, Kokichi hissed at the servants, dropping his weapon in the progress of wanting to close the doors, but it was to no use. Servants and guards neared them from behind,  _ We’ve got them! Front gate!,  _ making them unable to escape from this situation. Absentmindedly Shuichi’s trembling hand reached to Kokichi’s, holding it tightly. Was this really the end?  
  
behind them Rantaro and Chihiro were already grabbed harshly by servants, and they seemed to be struggling against their grip. Saihara didn’t fully take it in though. All he could see were those dozens of faces in front of him that spat the most cruel things at them, telling them they deserved to be burned and that they should be slaughtered like the pigs they were, and more of the kind. ‘S-stop it!’, he tried to yell, but his voice was hoarse, and he couldn’t really get it out in the way he wanted to. Kokichi too seemed tense. It started to rain, drops of water landing on the faces of those citizens, but they didn’t seem to mind. Their faces looked hot, and metaphorically the rain probably didn’t even manage to hit them as it turned into simple hydrogen again by the heat of their seething faces. Some faces looked more uncertain than others, it was true, but the bluenette couldn’t focus on them well. They all seemed the same, and he couldn’t put up a struggle himself as a guard grabbed onto his forearms, forcing them up as though he was showing his capture off like a huntsman. After all, after everything they had been through, fate didn’t exist, Shuichi was sure of it. No fate could be this cruel.  
  
‘Stop it!’, a voice suddenly yelled from within the crowd, one that suggested troubled breathing as though the person had been running. It were the words that Saihara had failed to truly let out, and everyone seemed to put their rage and struggling to a pause for a moment as a blonde woman moved through the crowd, pushing forward to be in the open circle these people had created in which they held Shuichi and the others. ‘Akamatsu-san’, Shuichi whispered, shocked to see her.  
  
‘Look at what you’re doing!’, Kaede Akamatsu yelled, her face red and seething as well, but it was for a whole other reason than the villagers of the kingdom were sporting a red head. She gestured wildly to the servants and Kokichi, her blonde hair sticking to her face from the rain. ‘Look at them! Look at them, and think about what you’re seeing!’, she continued, running a hand through that blonde hair of hers and taking a deep breath. The female had always had a case of stage fright, but she wanted to save her friends. ‘Just stop for a moment, and look at them, truly look at them. What do you see? A brown haired boy that has struggled with himself, just like how you have troubles. A green haired servant that has been beaten down, beaten down for saving a friend of his. A bluenette with so much more power inside of him than anyone would ever think seeing him. One of the best maids you’ll ever meet, and a nurse that can heal deathly wounds like they’re simple scratches, a man that is a dreamer just like all of you are and a prince, a prince that has lived his life training to become someone to rule. You are dead set on killing these people, and why? I thought we, Lavender Kingdom, were gentle, caring and non-judgemental! Why are we killing all these people, when we tell ourselves and others every single day that Lavender Kingdom is the kindest place you can come to? Why?!’.  
  
‘He’s a witch!’, a woman in the crowd yelled right back. ‘Oh, puh-lease’, Kaede rolled her eyes, folding her arms tightly over her chest. ‘If you always believe what anyone tells you, you’re more naive than a child listening to stories about a rabbit that hides chocolate eggs for them around the same time every year. So what if he is?’, she dared to snarl, holding up her hands. ‘Alright, alright! Tell me then, what has he done so far, that can be seen as bringing our kingdom in danger. If you can tell me one thing that our prince and the rightful king of the kingdom has done with ill intent to bring down this kingdom or its residents, I will step right away and let you throw these people at the stake like you so desperately seem to want’.  
  
It was completely silent. The crowd had nothing to say in return, and how could they? Everyone was aware that when Shirogane took over the throne things had been so much worse in the place than when the Ouma’s were still ruling. Ouma had never once tried anything to hurt anyone in the kingdom, and he indeed didn’t seem like the witches they read about that wanted to try and set everything on fire and just cause a lot of destruction. Kaede was absolutely right, but the citizens wouldn’t admit their defeat that easily. 

Chihiro cleared his throat, and the servant that had been holding onto his wrists let go of him. ‘During Shirogane’s stay, I’ve been captured unrightfully. Ouma came all the way here to save me’, the brunette told them, scratching his neck. ‘I too thought all witches were bad at first, because the only example I have had of one before was Enoshima. She truly was a cruel woman, as she killed one of my dearest friends. But she didn’t do that because she was a witch. She did that because she herself was horrible. Some creatures out there are horrible, but you can say the same of some of us humans. I trust prince Ouma, with my life’, the boy finished, bowing a little as he stepped back again.  
  
‘I didn’t like Ouma much either, I must admit’, Momota spoke up, still being held. He coughed softly, red trickling down his chin, but he didn’t seem to mind much. Shuichi has been told that he had a very weak immune system, and this only proved the point. ‘But putting him at the stake for something he can’t help? That’s a horrible way to deal with your problems, bros’. ‘Prince ouma is a fine human, I have observed this throughout my stay in the castle. Even if he plays pranks on us, he never means to harm anyone, and he paid mind to all of us when his parents wouldn’t all the time’, Kirumi added to it. Mikan nodded, to confirm this statement. ‘T-Tojo-san is r-right’.  
  
‘I have made many, many travels, and I used to own a series of books on the different types of witches alone that I have studied’, Rantaro chimed in, his voice low as always. He sounded like he was having a little difficulty speaking, but he wanted to make his point clear as day, so he wasn’t going to stop saying what he wanted to say any time soon. ‘Unfortunately the books have been burned down by Enoshima, the real woman who had taken over the kingdom when everything went as badly as it did’. At this reveal some of the citizens gasped, but others were listening to them speak with a strange type of curiosity. Most of the stakes had been lowered by now, as it dawned on the people what mistake they have made. ‘But Kokichi is one of the most interesting people I have ever met, and I have traveled most of these lands. His powers can be truly wonderful if used for good, just like how many witches that live peacefully on the outer side of Togami’s empire use their own power for harvest and beautiful creations. I will contact my friend that I have traveled with lots as soon as I can to ask him to bring some of his books on different types of creatures, and anyone who has questions about any of them can read through them if they want to’, the green haired servant added with a sly smile. 

‘Kokichi is a very good person, even if he may not believe it fully himself’, Shuichi spoke up, starting very soft, but getting a bit louder near the end as he wanted people to listen to him, but he definitely wanted Ouma to listen to me. ‘He has saved me from a horrible life in my own hometown, and he’s saved me in more ways on multiple occasions. I am not sure how he manages to hide his heart at times for I am certain that it is bigger than anyone else’s around. He’s caring and he’s intelligent, I think he’s definitely made to serve a kingdom as beautiful as Lavender Kingdom. I’m proud to say that I love him’, Shuichi continued, glancing at Ouma that looked at him, his purple painted eyes so very soft that it almost made Saihara want to cry, but he didn’t. ‘He would make a perfect king’. 

‘I’m a witch’, Kokichi said for himself as everyone fell silent and watched him expectantly to make a speech as well. ‘And I’m not an ideal person to be around. I can be a lot to handle, and I love lying just for the sake of it. Telling the truth feels uncomfortable in a way. Still, I’m not lying when I say that this land intrigues me. Sometimes I feel like some changes would do the land good, like education about the magical side of our world and stopping some of our unnecessary battles to instead use our resources to rebuild the kingdom into a beautiful one. Without Shuichi I wouldn’t have been able to realise it, but I think I could rule this kingdom and bring it back to its glory, how it used to be perceived. My parents are dead, but throughout my life I have learned enough about kingship and what it means, and I can be just as responsible as they have been. In this last year I have learned what it means to care about someone and to love them, and I too have learned to care about my homeland. If I’m allowed to, I will help you through all the repairing of the damage that Enoshima has done to this place, and together with Shuichi I am certain I will make Lavender Kingdom the loveable town it used to be, and more than that; we can be the first to make the steps towards a better future for ourselves’.    
  
Stakes fell to the ground, and everyone was let go of. In the crowd, someone started to clap for him, and some others tuned in, but most of it was just looking at them, somewhat embarrassed still for their own behavior before. A world had opened for them, and with that, a world had opened for Shuichi and Kokichi all the same. Kokichi looked at the bluenette confidently, and Saihara returned the look. They could do this. Fate had wanted it, and everything up until this point had prepared them to be good to Lavender Kingdom. They were ready to make this a better place, and to create a better future for themselves, just like Kokichi had worded so very well. Everything would be different, sure, but Shuichi had been through so many differences this year of knowing Ouma that it didn’t even bother him anymore. It made him excited in a way to know he was going to mean something. To Kokichi he meant the world, and together they could mean wealth for all of the citizens they had saved from a horrible fate. They were ready.    
  


* * *

  
One Year Later   
  


* * *

  
_   
_ ‘Morning, love’, a voice that he could recognize from anywhere spoke up behind him. The lavender scent matched his happy, yet somewhat tired tone. Shuichi had the urge to kneel and sit down in the grass, looking at the small flowers that Gonta felt too bad for cutting away, so he did. It felt right, the softness and the small drops of the beginning of dawn that were still present. The voice turned into a small chuckle, the male sitting down next to him. Purple strands of hair entered Shuichi’s vision. He sat back, leaning on his hands and watching Kokichi as he placed down a small tray that held two cups of tea, the heat reaching his skin in a pleasant way because of a small breeze. ‘Good morning, kichi’, he responded simply, taking one of the cups and bringing it to his lips. Still hot, the beverage burned his tongue a little, but he didn’t mind all too much. 

A hand was rested on top of his own, warm skin meeting his and bringing a nice feeling to his chest where his heart was beating happily. ‘ How are you?’, Saihara asked prince Ouma in the softest voice he could muster, knowing that the gardener was probably busy at the moment and he liked to keep their talks at least a little private.   
  
( _ Even in this dream, Shuichi knew that other kingdoms had envied their paring. A paring of love, and a strong one at that. This didn’t happen often.) _ _   
_   
‘Oh, I’m feeling a lot better this morning’, Ouma told him, a genuine look on his face telling Shuichi that he wasn't lying. The bluenette blinked, and Kokichi tilted his head as he watched his husband with a funny look on his face. ‘Did I say something strange?’, he asked with a snort, and Shuichi’s cheeks tinted a little red. ‘No no, not at all. I felt a weird type of deja vu, like I’ve seen this before, that’s all. Anyway, don’t let me disturb you from talking about what is on your mind’, the bluenette assured him with a small smile, sipping the tea he was holding.  
  
‘I have nothing more to add’, Kokichi replied easily, pulling Shuichi a little closer to himself and kissing his temple. 

  
  
Once upon a time, not that long ago actually, there lived two healthy kings in the kingdom that nowadays doesn’t go by any name anymore, but back then, people called it the “Lavender Kingdom” to honor its prettiest flowers that were found across most of the beautiful countryside. It had been through a lot of trouble over the course of time, but found its peak in wellbeing once the kings Shuichi Saihara and Kokichi Ouma ruled it for the rest of their lives. The kingdom fell as they fell, and merged with Togami’s Empire into a rich land that prioritised open mindedness. Even if the name was long forgotten, the blue and purple birds were still used in stories for years and years to come, expressing how the two lovers had managed to go through the worst together, and fate helped them to overcome everything, bringing them to a beautiful and satisfied end.    
  
The End. 

**Author's Note:**

> A/N:
> 
> My social medias are:   
> @yrxole.cos on tiktok   
> ༻ 𝔪𝔲𝔰𝔥𝔯𝔬𝔬𝔪𝔰 𝔣𝔞𝔯𝔠𝔢 ༺#8512 on discord  
> yShu_shroom on reddit   
> (feel free to add me on anything if you want to talk to me or see my cosplays on tiktok! I am a little shy around new people, but I still love making friends!)
> 
> That is all! I hope you like the story; kudos and comments are very much appreciated, but don't force yourself to do anything. That you're reading already makes me very glad!


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